Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
December 2, 2016

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2016-026 Released

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Donovan Molloy, has released his Report A-2016-026 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/reports/commissioner

Summary:

The Applicant requested substantially the same information from two public bodies, the Department of Health and Community Services (the “Department”) and Western Health. The requests included a Third Party’s correspondence with each, as well as a copy of its bid to tender and contract with Western Health. Both the Department and Western Health were prepared to release the information requested, The Third Party objected and filed two complaints with this Office, claiming that the information must be withheld from the Applicant on the basis of section 39 (disclosure harmful to business interests of a third party). The Commissioner found that the burden of proof under subsection 43(3) had not been met by the Third Party and recommended that the information be released. The Third Party also argued that a portion of the responsive records in question were not “public records” and were not under the “custody and control” of either Public Body. The Commissioner found that both arguments lacked merit.

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Media contact:

Donovan Molloy, Q.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner 709-729-6309

2016 12 02                              3:10 p.m.