Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 4, Exemptions from the Right of Access. Updated 24 July 2025. 131 A recommendation is a specific piece of advice about what to do, especially when given officially; it is a suggestion that someone should choose a particular thing or person that one thinks particularly good or meritorious.480 Recommendations relate to a suggested course of action more explicitly and pointedly than “advice”.481 It can include material that relates to a suggested course of action that will ultimately be accepted or rejected by the person being advised.482 It includes suggestions for a course of action as well as the rationale or substance for a suggested course of action.483 A recommendation, whether express or inferable, is still a recommendation.484 A proposal is something offered for consideration or acceptance.485 Analyses (or analysis) is the detailed examination of the elements or structure of something; the process of separating something into its constituent elements.486 Policy options are lists of alternative courses of action to be accepted or rejected in relation to a decision that is to be made. They would include matters such as the public servant’s identification and consideration of alternative decisions that could be made. In other words, they constitute an evaluative analysis as opposed to objective information.487 Records containing policy options can take many forms. They might include the full range of policy options for a given decision, comprising all conceivable alternatives, or may only list a subset of alternatives that in the public servant’s opinion are most worthy of consideration. They can also include the advantages and disadvantages of each option. The list can also be less fulsome and still constitute policy options. For example, a public servant may prepare a list of all alternatives and await further instructions from the decision maker for which options 480 Garner, Bryan A., 2019. Black’s Law Dictionary, 11th Edition. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group at p. 1526. 481 John Doe v. Ontario (Finance), [2014] 2 SCR 3, 2014 SCC 36 (CanLII) at [22]. Relied on by Justice Danyliuk in Britto v University of Saskatchewan, 2018 SKQB 92 at [77] and Justice Gabrielson in Hande v University of Saskatchewan, QBG 1222 of 2018 at [41]. 482 John Doe v. Ontario (Finance), [2014] 2 SCR 3, 2014 SCC 36 (CanLII) at [23]. Relied on by Justice Danyliuk in Britto v University of Saskatchewan, 2018 SKQB 92 at [77] and Justice Gabrielson in Hande v University of Saskatchewan, QBG 1222 of 2018 at [41]. 483 Service Alberta, FOIP Guidelines and Practices: 2009 Edition, Chapter 4 at pp. 166 and 179. The SK OIPC relied on this definition for the first time in Review Report LA-2010-001 at [28]. Also relied on in SK OIPC Review Report F-2014-001 at [282]. The term “substance” was added to the definition following SK IPC Review Report 019-2017 at [21]. 484 John Doe v. Ontario (Finance), [2014] 2 SCR 3, 2014 SCC 36 (CanLII) at [24]. Relied on by Justice Danyliuk in Britto v University of Saskatchewan, 2018 SKQB 92 at [77] and Justice Gabrielson in Hande v University of Saskatchewan, QBG 1222 of 2018 at [41]. 485 Garner, Bryan A., 2019. Black’s Law Dictionary, 11th Edition. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group at p. 1474. 486 Pearsall, Judy, Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th Ed., (Oxford University Press) at p. 47. 487 John Doe v. Ontario (Finance), [2014] 2 SCR 3, 2014 SCC 36 (CanLII) at [26]. Relied on by Justice Kalmakoff in Leo v Global Transportation Hub Authority, 2019 SKQB 150 at [30].
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