Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2013-014 Released

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ed Ring, has released his Report A-2013-014 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-2013-014
Report Date:   October 2, 2013
Public Body:    Department of Environment and Conservation

Summary:

The Applicant requested from the Department of Environment and Conservation (the “Department”) a list of pesticides that each operator in the province was permitted to use under the terms of its Pesticide Operator Licence. The Third Party that filed this Request for Review is a company which holds a Pesticide Operator Licence. The Department, in accordance with section 28 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “ATIPPA”), advised the Third Party that the Department had received a request for records which, if disclosed, might affect the Third Party’s business interests as described in section 27 of the ATIPPA. In response to the notice, the Third Party wrote the Department indicating that it did not consent to the release of the records and setting out its reasons for objecting to the release. The Department subsequently advised the Third Party that the records would be released unless the Third Party filed a Request for Review. The Third Party then filed a Request for Review with this Office. The Commissioner determined that the Third Party had not discharged the burden imposed on it by section 64(2) to prove that the Applicant had no right of access to the requested information. Therefore, the Commissioner recommended release of the information requested by the Applicant.

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

2013 10 08                              9:25 a.m.