Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Reports A-2011-010, A-2011-011, and A-2011-012 Released

The Assistant Information and Privacy Commissioner (A), Sean Murray, has released Reports A-2011-010, A-2011-011 and A-2011-012 under authority delegated to him by Commissioner Ed Ring pursuant to section 57 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Although each Report originated from a different Applicant, their requests were filed with the same Public Body, their requests were similar in content, and each request was filed within approximately the same time period. Furthermore, the findings on all three Reviews were very similar, and the recommendations identical. Therefore, a combined summary of all three Reports is included below.

To view these Reports in their entirety, please go to www.oipc.nl.ca/accessreports.htm

Reports:        A-2011-010, A-2011-011, A-2011-012
Report Date:  July 12, 2011
Public Body:   Public Service Commission
Summary:

The Applicants made three separate applications under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “ATIPPA”) to the Public Service Commission (the “PSC”) for access to records relating to a harassment investigation report. In each case, the PSC claimed a time extension under section 16(1) (b) of the ATIPPA but did not respond to the requests within the extended time period. The PSC did not provide any of the responsive records to the Applicants until several months after the request was made. The Assistant Commissioner found that there was a deemed refusal to provide access to the records pursuant to section 11(2) and that the PSC had shown a clear disregard for the statutory timelines and the access to information process. The Assistant Commissioner also found that the delay of the PSC in responding to the three access requests constituted a failure to fulfill its duty to assist the Applicants under section 9 of the ATIPPA. The Assistant Commissioner made recommendations to the PSC to improve its process for handling access to information requests.

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Media contact:
Sean Murray
Assistant Information and Privacy Commissioner (A)
709-729-6309

2011 07 28                                                                          12:05 p.m.