Report into Contentious Issues Management in the Ministry of Finance

• Report on allegations of political interference in two FOI requests. The allegations were made by members of the Opposition Party and they related to actions taken by a Legislative Assistant in the office of the Minister of Finance.
• Findings:
• Contentious issues management processes, absent politically driven influences, are not inconsistent with the government’s responsibilities under the Act.
• No evidence of political interference in either request was found.
• Ministry’s contentious issues management process allowed inaction by political staff to lead to unacceptable delays in processing one request – Minister to conduct a review of that process
• IPC to offer comprehensive training to political staff.

• FIPPA
• Section 25
• Section 26