Report: A-2008-013

Report Date: August 6, 2008

Public Body: Memorial University of Newfoundland

Summary: The Applicant applied under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the "ATIPPA") for access to records relating to his candidate�s interview in relation to his application for admission to the School of Pharmacy at Memorial University of Newfoundland ("Memorial"). The Commissioner determined that the information containing the interview questions asked during the interview constituted "a record of a question that is to be used on an examination or test" and is, therefore, exempt from the operation of the ATIPPA pursuant to section 5(1)(g). As such, the Commissioner ruled that he was without jurisdiction in relation to that information. However, the Commissioner concluded that the information contained in the notations made by interviewers in relation to the answers given by the Applicant is not exempt from the operation of the ATIPPA. The Commissioner did not accept the argument of Memorial that the mandatory exception in section 27(1) applied to the information contained in the notations because the disclosure of that information would not be harmful to the business interests of a Third Party. In addition, the Commissioner disagreed with Memorial�s position that release of the information in the notations would be harmful to the financial or economic interests of Memorial pursuant to section 24(1). The Commissioner ruled that much of the severed information in the notations containing the Applicant�s responses to the interview questions constituted the personal information of the Applicant. The Commissioner recommended release of all the severed information in the interviewers� notations.