Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2013-005 Released

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ed Ring, has released his Report A-2013-005 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-2013-005
Report Date: March 12, 2013
Public Body: Eastern School District

Summary: The Applicant applied to the Eastern School District (the “District”) under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “ATIPPA”) for access to the minutes of meetings of the Eastern School Board of Trustees held in camera. The District denied access to the requested records claiming they were excepted from disclosure by sections 6 and 19 of the ATIPPA and section 62(2) of the Schools Act, 1997, which the District stated took precedence over the ATIPPA according to the Access to Information Regulations under the ATIPPA. The Commissioner concluded that the District had properly denied access in accordance section 62(2) of the Schools Act, 1997 as the records the Applicant was seeking were minutes of closed meetings. The Commissioner recommended that the District re-evaluate its handling of access requests to ensure it is fully compliant with the ATIPPA as there were sections of the ATIPPA that the District had not fully complied with when responding to the Applicant’s access request.

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

2013 03 19             11:50 a.m.