Guide to FOIP-Chapter 4

Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 4, Exemptions from the Right of Access. Updated 8 April 2024. 125 (ii) a prescribed committee of a government institution mentioned in subclause (i); or (g) information, including the proposed plans, policies or projects of a government institution, the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to result in disclosure of a pending policy or budgetary decision. (2) This section does not apply to a record that: (a) has been in existence for more than 25 years; (b) is an official record that contains a statement of the reasons for a decision that is made in the exercise of a discretionary power or an adjudicative function; (c) is the result of product or environmental testing carried out by or for a government institution, unless the testing was conducted: (i) as a service to a person, a group of persons or an organization other than a government institution, and for a fee; or (ii) as preliminary or experimental tests for the purpose of: (A) developing methods of testing; or (B) testing products for possible purchase; (d) is a statistical survey; (e) is the result of background research of a scientific or technical nature undertaken in connection with the formulation of a policy proposal; or (f) is: (i) an instruction or guide-line issued to the officers or employees of a government institution; or (ii) a substantive rule or statement of policy that has been adopted by a government institution for the purpose of interpreting an Act or regulation or administering a program or activity of a government institution. (3) A head may refuse to give access to any report, statement, memorandum, recommendation, document, information, data or record, within the meaning of section 10 of The Evidence Act, that, pursuant to that section, is not admissible as evidence in any legal proceeding. Section 17 of FOIP is a discretionary class-based provision. It is intended to allow for candor during the decision-making process. The Supreme Court of Canada addressed the purpose of the equivalent provision in Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31, s. 13(1) in John Doe v. Ontario (Finance), (2014):

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