PO-4640-I

This interim order is one of two orders being issued together that arise in similar appeals. In both orders, the adjudicator considers the issue of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s control over personal emails in the possession of a former employee.
A media reporter asked the ministry for access under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to personal emails of the former minister’s Chief of Staff relating to the Greenbelt amendment. The ministry provided some emails but the reporter believes that additional records ought to exist and appealed the ministry’s decision. The ministry takes the position that any additional records are not within its custody or control.
In this order, the adjudicator finds that the records the reporter is seeking, if they exist, are within the ministry’s control. The adjudicator orders the ministry to assert its control of the records by directing the former employee to identify and provide any responsive records to the ministry. The adjudicator reserves her findings on the reasonableness of the ministry’s searches.