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 24 July 2025. 88 2. Could release reveal the record that was seized? 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.329 For this provision to apply there must be objective grounds for believing that disclosing the information could reveal a record that has been seized by a law enforcement officer in accordance with an Act or Act of Parliament. Reveal means to make known; cause or allow to be seen.330 A government institution cannot rely on subsection 15(1)(k.3) 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)(l) Law enforcement and investigations 15(1) A head may refuse to give access to a record, the release of which could: … (l) reveal technical information relating to weapons or potential weapons; or … (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 (b) reports, by means of statistical analysis or otherwise, on the degree of success achieved in a law enforcement program. 329 SK OIPC Review Reports LA-2007-001 at [117], LA-2013-001 at [35], F-2014-001 at [149]. 330 Pearsall, Judy, Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th Ed., (Oxford University Press) at p. 1224.

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