Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
September 27, 2007Report
2007-012 Released
The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Phil Wall,
has released his Report 2007-012 under authority of the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act. A summary of the Report
is included below.
To view the Report in its entirety, please go to
//www.oipc.gov.nl.ca/reports.htm
Report: 2007-012
Report Date: September 20, 2007
Public Body: Town of Torbay
| Summary:
|
The Applicant applied under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the "ATIPPA") for access to records relating to a right of way in the Town of Torbay. The Town did not acknowledge the request until over three months after receiving it and did not provide any of the responsive records to the Applicant until nearly four months after the request was made. The Commissioner found that there was a deemed refusal to provide access to the records pursuant to section 11(2). The Commissioner also concluded that the Town had failed to comply with the statutory duties imposed on it by sections 3, 9, 11, and 12 of the ATIPPA and had acted irresponsibly toward the Applicant and the Commissioner�s Office. The Commissioner made recommendations to the Town to improve its process for handling access to information requests. The Commissioner found that some of the records were subject to solicitor-client privilege and the Town was, therefore, entitled to deny access under section 21, with the exception of information regarding the total amount of legal fees charged by the Town�s solicitor. The Commissioner found that copies of records held by the Town and registered in public registries should be disclosed including personal information found in those records. The Commissioner found that the Town had properly severed the names of individuals found in some of the records because the names constitute personal information. |
-30-
Media contact:
Sandy Hounsell
Executive Director
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309
2007 09 27
11:50 a.m.
