Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 4, Exemptions from the Right of Access. Updated 8 April 2024. 75 provision to apply there must be objective grounds for believing that releasing the information could impede the detection of an offence. Tend to means to have a direct bearing or effect; to contribute or conduce in some degree or way; to have a tendency to.280 Impede in this context means to delay or block the progress or action of detection.281 Detection means the act of discovering or revealing something that is hidden or barely perceptible, especially to solve a crime.282 Offence means a violation of the law; a crime.283 When there is a review by the IPC, the government institution is invited to provide a submission (arguments). The government institution should describe how and why disclosure of the information in question could impede the detection of an offence. Examples include information about techniques, tools and instruments used for criminal acts; names of individuals with permits for guns; the location of police officers; and the location of valuable assets belonging to a government institution.284 A government institution cannot rely on subsection 15(1)(j) 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)). IPC Findings In Review Report 037-2018, the Commissioner considered the equivalent provision (subsection 14(1)(j)) in LA FOIP. The applicant had requested records relating to a specific incident that occurred in 2012. The Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) withheld portions of the records citing a number of exemptions including subsection 14(1)(j) of LA FOIP. SPS specifically applied subsection 14(1)(j) of LA FOIP to seven pages that contained “ten codes” which were used by SPS when dispatching officers. The codes were used as a means of communication that conveyed a specific message without publicly identifying their true 280 Garner, Bryan A., 2019. Black’s Law Dictionary, 11th Edition. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group at p. 1770. 281 Pearsall, Judy, Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th Ed., (Oxford University Press) at p. 711. 282 Garner, Bryan A., 2019. Black’s Law Dictionary, 11th Edition. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group at p. 563. 283 Garner, Bryan A., 2019. Black’s Law Dictionary, 11th Edition. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group at p. 1300. 284 Service Alberta, FOIP Guidelines and Practices: 2009 Edition, Chapter 4 at p. 154.
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