Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
April 11, 2011

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2011-006 Released

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ed Ring, has released his Report A-2011-006 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.nl.ca/accessreports.htm

Report:             A-2011-006
Report Date:     April 6, 2011
Public Body:      Town of Brigus

Summary:

The Applicant submitted an access to information request to the Town of Brigus for records concerning the Town’s contract with their scrap metal removal company. This Office received a Request for Review which cited a failure of the duty to assist pursuant to section 9 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The Town sent further information to the Applicant which caused a second Request for Review to be filed. In it the Applicant renewed his request for a response in writing including a statement of his right to appeal to Court or to seek a review by this Office. The Town provided a written response, however the Applicant also felt that this was still an incomplete response, and as such was tantamount to a deemed refusal. This Office then received a third Request for Review combined with a section 44 Time Extension Complaint which claimed that the Town had failed to request an extension of time to respond to the Access Request, as required under section 16 of the Act and reiterated the original Request for Review. The Commissioner determined that while there had been non-compliance with section 11 of the Act, there had been no failure in the duty to assist and that the Town had provided to the Applicant all assistance required under the Act. The Commissioner also determined that no extension of time was required as the Town had replied to the Access Request within thirty days of the original Request. The Commissioner had no recommendations to make to the Town.

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Media contact:
Ed Ring
Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309

2011 04 11                                                      2:25 p.m.