Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, CHAPTER 5, Third Party Information. Updated 9 March 2023. 121 notice to the third parties and inability to identify the third parties factored into the Commissioner’s decision that Agriculture did not meet the burden of proof in demonstrating that section 19 applied to the records. By not providing notice, the Commissioner stated, it prejudices the rights of both the third parties and the applicant in the review. The third parties were not afforded the opportunity to make representations. If the third parties were notified and indicated they did not object to release, the failure to notify prejudices the applicant in such a scenario. Given that section 19 was a mandatory exemption, the Commissioner still considered the application of the exemption and attempted to identify the third parties. However, partly due to the lack of supporting arguments from Agriculture, the Commissioner found that subsections 19(a), (b), (c), (e) and (f) of FOIP did not apply and recommended release of the records. Section 53: Conduct of review Conduct of review 53(1) The commissioner shall conduct every review in private. (2) The: (a) person who applies for a review; (b) third party or applicant who is entitled to notice pursuant to section 52; and (c) head whose decision is the subject of a review; are entitled to make representations to the commissioner in the course of the review. (3) No one is entitled as of right: (a) to be present during a review; or (b) before or after a review: (i) to have access to; or (ii) to comment on; representations made to the commissioner by any other person. Subsection 53(1) of FOIP provides that third parties (and applicants and government institutions) that are a party in a review by the Commissioner have a right to make representations to the Commissioner on the matter. This is an entitlement or a right and not
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