Order 161
Appeal 890164
Ministry of Labour
O R D E R
This appeal was received pursuant to subsection 50(1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1987, as amended (the "Act") which gives a person who has made a request for access to a record under subsection 24(1) or a request for access to personal information under subsection 48(1) a right to appeal any decision of a head under the Act to the Commissioner.
On January 5, 1990, Sidney B. Linden, Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario appointed the undersigned Assistant Commissioner and delegated to the undersigned, the power to conduct inquiries and make Orders under the Act.
The facts of this case and the procedures employed in making this Order are as follows:
- On January 23, 1989, the requester wrote to the Ministry of Labour (the "institution") seeking access to:
Discussion papers/memos/reports/consultant reports that in 1988, 1989, help assist (sic) greater coverage of working women under the Pay Equity Act. Include options to consider and actions to take and any timetable re greater coverage.
- On February 7, 1989, the appellant received written confirmation from the Freedom of Information and Privacy Co_ordinator (the "Co_ordinator") for the institution that the following understanding was reached with respect to his request:
This request concerns background material apart the (sic) nine commissioned reports which are mentioned in the "Report to Minister of Labour".
- On May 16, 1989, the Co_ordinator responded to the request in the following manner:
Enclosed are copies of twenty_five (25) documents which are being provided to you. There will not be a fee for this information.
One of these documents is being disclosed in part. Several sections of one of the documents are being withheld pursuant to section 13(1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. An additional eleven (11) memos are being withheld in their entirety because they are also viewed as advice to government.
Notes taken by the Pay Equity Commission in "off_the_record" discussions with third parties are also being withheld pursuant to section 17(1)(b) of the Act. The head felt that there is good reason to believe that such information would not be supplied in the future if he were to disclose the contents of these discussions.
Finally, two large studies have been withheld pursuant to section 22(b) of the Act because it is believed that this information will be published shortly. These studies are in the custody of the Pay Equity Commission and I will have them notify me when the studies will be made public. In turn, I will convey this information to you.
- On May 22, 1989, this office received an appeal from the decision of the institution in which the appellant stated:
I appeal Labour' (sic) Section 13 exemptions on pay equity (8900008). Severance is plausible and the issue and studies are now in front of the public.
On June 5, 1989, notice of the appeal was given to the institution and the appellant.
The records were obtained and reviewed by the Appeals Officer.
On November 30, 1989, the Ministry advised the appellant as follows:
We have now re_examined the decisions that were made concerning the remaining eleven documents. It has been decided that three of these documents will be released in their entirety and two will be released with severances. With respect to the remaining six documents, our decisions on access remain the same; five of these were withheld in their entirety and the sixth was disclosed in part. However, an additional ground for non_disclosure is being raised with respect to the November 25, 1988 memo from S. Klein to N. Ignatieff. Apart from section 13(1), the final line of the memo is also being severed pursuant to s.21(1) because it contains the opinion of one individual about another individual.
- During mediation of this appeal, additional records were disclosed to the appellant. However, mediation was not completely successful. The remaining records at issue in the appeal are eight internal memoranda which have been partially severed or withheld in their entirety pursuant to subsection 13(1) and section 21 of the Act. These records are listed below, utilizing the numbers assigned to them by the institution, for ease of reference.
Record 1. Memorandum dated November 25, 1988 from Suzanne Klein, Manager, Policy Branch to Nick Ignatieff, Director, Policy Branch.
Record 4. Memorandum dated December 6, 1988 at 9:42 a.m. from Cindy Morton, Executive Co_ordinator, Policy and Communication Branch to Suzanne Klein.
Record 5. Memorandum dated December 6, 1988 at 12:21 p.m. from Cindy Morton to Suzanne Klein.
Record 6. Memorandum dated December 19, 1988 from Suzanne Klein to Judith Wolfson, Director of Legal Services Branch.
Record 7. Memorandum dated December 28, 1988 from Suzanne Klein to George Thompson, Deputy Minister of Labour.
Record 8. Memorandum dated December 28, 1988 from Suzanne Klein to Ken B. Godevenos, Manager, Research Branch, Pay Equity Commission.
Record 9. Memorandum dated January 12, 1989 from Suzanne Klein to Barbara Sulzenko, Executive Assistant to the Minister of Labour.
Record 11. Memorandum dated October 17, 1988 from Mitchell Toker, Small Business Advocacy, Ministry of Industry Trade and Technology to Carol O'Donnell, Research Co_ordinator, Pay Equity Commission.
Notice that an inquiry was being conducted to review the decision of the head was sent to the appellant and the institution on February 8, 1990. Enclosed with each notice letter was a report prepared by the Appeals Officer, intended to assist the parties in making their representations concerning the subject matter of the appeal. The Appeals Officer's Report outlines the facts of the appeal and sets out questions which paraphrase those sections of the Act which appear to the Appeals Officer, or any of the parties, to be relevant to the appeal. This report indicates that the parties, in making their representations to me, need not limit themselves to the questions set out in the report.
Written representations were received from the institution only. The