Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 4, Exemptions from the Right of Access. Updated 8 April 2024. 61 3. Could disclosure reveal investigative techniques or procedures? Section 15 of FOIP uses the word could versus “could reasonably be expected to” as seen in other provisions of FOIP. The threshold for could is somewhat lower than a reasonable expectation. The requirement for could is simply that the release of the information could have the specified result. There would still have to be a basis for the assertion. If it is fanciful or exceedingly remote, the exemption should not be invoked.221 For this provision to apply there must be objective grounds for believing that disclosing the information could reveal investigative techniques or procedures. Reveal means to make known; cause or allow to be seen.222 When there is a review by the IPC, the government institution is invited to provide a submission (arguments). The government institution must establish how and why disclosure of the information in question could reveal investigative techniques or procedures. A government institution cannot rely on subsection 15(1)(e) of FOIP for a record that: a) Provides a general outline of the structure or programs of a law enforcement agency; or b) Reports, by means of statistical analysis or otherwise, on the degree of success achieved in a law enforcement program (see subsection 15(2)). Subsection 15(1)(f) Law enforcement and investigations 15(1) A head may refuse to give access to a record, the release of which could: … (f) disclose the identity of a confidential source of information or disclose information furnished by that source with respect to a lawful investigation or a law enforcement matter; … (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a record that: (a) provides a general outline of the structure or programs of a law enforcement agency; or 221 SK OIPC Review Reports LA-2007-001 at [117], LA-2013-001 at [35], F-2014-001 at [149]. 222 Pearsall, Judy, Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th Ed., (Oxford University Press) at p. 1224.
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