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MO-1352

Document		MO-1352


Institution/HIC		Toronto Police Services Board


Summary		NATURE OF THE APPEAL: The appellant made a request to the Toronto Police Services Board (the Police) under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to an occurrence report relating to the investigation of the sudden death of her son. In her request, the appellant advised the Police that she is her son's next of kin and executor. The Police located 20 pages of responsive records and granted access to portions of two pages. Access to the remaining records and parts of records was denied under the following exemptions contained in the Act : law enforcement - section 8(2)(a) invasion of privacy - sections 14(1) and 38(b), with reference to the presumptions in sections 14(3)(a) (medical information about an individual) and (b) (information compiled as part of an investigation into a possible violation of law) In addition, the Police advised the appellant that they required evidence of her status as "personal representative" of her deceased son's estate in order to entitle her to exercise the broader access rights prescribed by section 54(a) of the Act . The appellant appealed the decision of the Police to deny access to the responsive records. I provided a Notice of Inquiry to the Police initially and to two other individuals whose rights may be affected by the disclosure of the information contained in the records (the affected persons). Because some of the records appeared to contain the personal information of the appellant, I also requested that the Police consider the possible application of section 38(a) of the Act for those records which it claimed to be exempt under section 8(2)(a). I received representations from the Police only. I then provided the appellant with the non-confidential portions of the representations which I received from the Police, along with a modified version of the Notice of Inquiry which was forwarded to the Police. The appellant made lengthy representations both personally and through her counsel and other individuals. With her representations, the appellant also provided me with a copy of a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will appointing her as the Estate Trustee of her deceased son's estate. The relevant portions of the appellant's submissions were then provided to the Police, who were invited to make additional representations by way of Reply, addressing the issues raised by the appellant in her submissions. In particular, the Police were asked to comment on the possible application of section 54(a) in light of the appellant's appointment as Estate Trustee. I received detailed reply representations from the Police. PRELIMINARY ISSUE: SCOPE OF THE REQUEST In the representations received from the appellant's counsel, the appellant sought to broaden the scope of the request to include not only the occurrence report originally requested, which is comprised of various Sudden Death Reports, Supplementary Reports and Property Reports, but also any investigating officer's notes, forensic reports or witness statements. In their submissions, the Police object to the broadening of the scope of the request at the second step of the inquiry stage of the appeal. In my view, it would be unreasonable to broaden the scope of the appeal at this late stage of the Inquiry process. The appeal as originally framed concisely stated the parameters of the request to include only the "occurrence report regarding the death of my son". Acting on the request as clearly indicated, the Police conducted a search for responsive records and identified the 20 pages which now form the records at issue as being the sole responsive records. I find that the Police acted properly in the manner in which they responded to the request and that the appellant is not entitled to broaden the scope of the request to include other records relating to the investigation into the death of her son. DISCUSSION: RIGHT OF ACCESS BY A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE I will first consider whether, under section 54(a) of the Act , the appellant is entitled to exercise the access rights of her deceased son under the Act . Section 54(a) states: Any right or power conferred on an individual by this Act may be exercised, if the individual is deceased, by the individual's personal representative if exercise of the right or power relates to the administration of the individual's estate; Under this section, the appellant can exercise the rights of the deceased under the Act if she can demonstrate that (a) she is the personal representative of the deceased, and (b) the rights she wishes to exercise relate to the administration of the deceased's estate. If the appellant meets the requirements of this section, then she is entitled to have the same access to the personal information of the deceased as the deceased would have had; her request for access to the personal information of the deceased under section 36(1) of the Act will be treated as though the request came from the deceased himself: see, for instance, Order M-927. Personal Representative The appellant has provided the Police and this office with a copy of the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will. The Police have indicated that they are satisfied that this documentation establishes that the appellant qualifies as the deceased's personal representative. In the circumstances, I am also satisfied that the first requirement under section 54(a) has been met. Relates to the Administration of the Individual's Estate The appellant has stated that access to the police report is necessary in order to settle the estate. She indicates that at the time of his death, her son left no will and no substantial assets beyond a life insurance policy "which is affected by the police finding that he committed suicide." The appellant submits that "[T]he administration of [the deceased's] estate, therefore, cannot be completed absent additional information about the determination that he committed suicide." The appellant's su


Legislation		MFIPPA 14(1) 14(3)(b) 54(a)


Subject Index		administration of estate compiled as part of an investigation


Published		Oct 20, 2000


Type		Order


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