The ministry received multiple requests for records related to the death of the appellants’ son. This appeal deals with records about a related breach of trust investigation into a police officer who investigated the death. The ministry initially withheld the majority of the records under the law enforcement exemptions related to an ongoing investigation (sections 14(1)(a), (b), and (f)).
During the inquiry, an individual was charged with the death of the appellants’ son, and the ministry instead claimed the prosecution exclusion for some of the records (section 65(5.2)). The ministry also claimed the exemption at section 49(a), read with section 19 (solicitor-client privilege), and section 49(b) (personal privacy) for portions of other records. In this order, the adjudicator finds that the records are excluded from the Act due to the ongoing prosecution exclusion or otherwise exempt from disclosure under the sections claimed by the ministry. However, he finds that a portion of background information should be disclosed for compassionate reasons, and orders this information to be disclosed.