Tag: Decisions

  • When is Purchase Agreement Information Exempt as Third Party Information?

    When is Purchase Agreement Information Exempt as Third Party Information?

    Today’s article should be of interest to anyone who applies the mandatory third party exemption in section 17(1) of FIPPA (or its equivalent in section 10(1) of MFIPPA) to purchase agreements, service agreements, and supporting documents such as the records of discussions surrounding decisions to purchase products and/or services. The Divisional Court of Ontario recently…

  • Are Your Written Notices Defective?

    Are Your Written Notices Defective?

    Issuing compliant written notices can be deceptively complicated, given the multiple sources of rules and guidance that come into play. Unfortunately, as seen above, issuing a notice which fails to meet the requirements can lead to an adverse decision against the institution in an appeal before IPCO.

  • Applying the public interest override to employment information

    Applying the public interest override to employment information

    Today’s article is intended to explain when the public interest override applies to requests for employment information.

  • The Public Interest Override

    The Public Interest Override

    “Exemptions Not To Apply” Both the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the Municipal Freedom Of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) contain a special provision referred to as the “public interest override”. Appearing in FIPPA s. 23 and MFIPPA s. 16, this language of this provision is essentially the…

  • Filing an FOI request is not defamation

    Filing an FOI request is not defamation

    “The overarching purpose of access to information legislation, then, is to facilitate democracy. It does so in two related ways. It helps to ensure first, that citizens have the information required to participate meaningfully in the democratic process, and secondly, that politicians and bureaucrats remain accountable to the citizenry .” Dagg v Canada (Minister of…

  • Why do requestors ask for electronic versions of records?

    Why do requestors ask for electronic versions of records?

    In this article, FIPPA and MFIPPA refer to Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, respectively. There are a number of reasons that a requestor might ask an institution to disclose records digitally rather than in hard copy: The requestor is hoping to…