IPCO – FOI Assist Knowledge Base

Are Body-Worn Camera Recordings “Labour and Employment” Records?

There is currently an appeal underway before the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPCO) which raises an important issue relating to body-worn camera footage and which may have greater implications over how we apply exemptions and exclusions to records in general. As reported by Tom Cardozo and Robyn Doolittle in the Globe & Mail,Continue reading “Are Body-Worn Camera Recordings “Labour and Employment” Records?”

15 Tips to Make FOI a Breeze

It was a pleasure to speak at the 2023 AMCTO Information, Access, and Privacy Forum yesterday, where I presented “15 Tips to Make FOI a Breeze”.

Annual Statistical Report is due March 31

If your institution is in Ontario, responds to freedom of information requests, and is not a federal agency or otherwise regulated by the access-to-information framework under the federal Access to Information Act, you have an obligation to file a statistical report every year with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPCO).

Informal Requests

Institutions have an obligation to provide records in response to FOI requests; however, this does not prevent institutions from providing records or information without using the official FOI process.

The Absurd Result Principle

It was a privilege to speak last week to all of the attendees of the Freedom of Information Police Network (FOIPN) Fall Conference at the Belleville Police Service Headquarters in Belleville, Ontario.

I was asked to deliver a presentation on the Absurd Result Principle, a legal principle with a long history in the Canadian and English legal systems.