Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 4, Exemptions from the Right of Access. Updated 8 April 2024. 186 unambiguous meaning of the words of the statute.671 “Relating to” requires some connection between the information and the negotiations.672 2. Were the positions, plans, procedures, criteria, instructions, or considerations developed for the purpose of contractual or other negotiations by or on behalf of the Government of Saskatchewan or a government institution? Developed means to start to exist, experience or possess.673 Use of the word “developed” suggests the Legislature’s intention was for the provision to include information generated in the process leading up to the contractual or other negotiations (for example, draft versions).674 Drafts and redrafts of positions, plans, procedures, criteria, instructions or considerations may be protected by the exemption. A public servant may engage in writing any number of drafts before communicating part or all of their content to another person. The nature of the deliberative process is to draft and redraft until the writer is sufficiently satisfied that they are prepared to communicate the results to someone else. All the information in those earlier drafts informs the end result even if the content of any one draft is not included in the final version.675 For the purpose of means intention; the immediate or initial purpose of something.676 The negotiations can be conducted by the government or on behalf of the government. On behalf of means “for the benefit of”.677 A person does something “on behalf of” another, when he or she does the thing in the interest of, or as a representative of, the other person.678 A negotiation is a consensual bargaining process in which the parties attempt to reach agreement on a disputed or potentially disputed matter. It can also be defined as dealings 671 Adapted from Ministry of Attorney General and Toronto Star, 2010 ONSC 991 (CanLII) at [45]. 672 Adapted from Ministry of Attorney General and Toronto Star, 2010 ONSC 991 (CanLII) at [43]. 673 Pearsall, Judy, Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th Ed., (Oxford University Press) at p. 391. 674 Ontario (Ministry of Northern Development and Mines) v. Mitchinson, 2004 CanLII 15009 (ON SCDC) at [56]. Justice Dunnet found that inclusion of this word changed the meaning in the federal and British Columbia legislation compared to Ontario’s FOIP legislation that did not include this word for the advice/recommendations provision. 675 John Doe v. Ontario (Finance), [2014] 2 SCR 3, 2014 SCC 36 (CanLII) at [48] to [51]. 676 Gardner, J., and Gardner K. (2016) Sangan’s Encyclopedia of Words and Phrases Legal Maxims, Canada, 5th Edition, Volume 2, C to H, at p. F-133. 677 Encon Group Inc. v. Capo Construction Inc., 2015 BCSC 786 (CanLII) at [34]. 678 Conibear v. Dahling, 2010 BCSC 985 (CanLII) at [34].
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