Guide to FOIP-Chapter 6

Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 6, Protection of Privacy. Updated 27 February 2023. 303 Opinions cannot be corrected. This includes professional and expert opinions.793 See the third part of the test below. Records of an investigatory nature cannot be said to be “incorrect”, “in error”, “incomplete”, “inexact” or “ambiguous” if they simply reflect the views of the individuals whose impressions are being set out. In other words, it is not the truth of the recorded information that is determinative of whether a correction request should be granted, but rather whether what is recorded accurately reflected the author’s observations, perception of events and impressions as they existed at the time the records were created.794 3. Is the amendment a substitution of opinion? Opinions are not errors or omissions if they accurately reflected the views of the author at the time they were recorded, whether or not the opinion is supported by fact. The truth or falsity of the views or opinions is not the issue. A correction cannot be a substitution of opinion.795 Opinions are views or judgements not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.796 Professional opinions or observations are not normally subject to correction unless an error can be independently verified.797 Professional means of or relating to or belonging to a profession.798 Observation means a comment based on something one has seen, heard, or noticed, and the action or process of closely observing or monitoring.799 The significance of an opinion may be that it reflects another person’s views at the time it was offered, and it may be important to have a record of that view at a later date. FOIP allows an 793 Service Alberta, FOIP Guidelines and Practices: 2009 Edition, Chapter 7 at p. 254. 794 The base case for this provision was SK OIPC Review Report F-2014-004 at [23]. Originated from Ontario IPC Order MO-2766 at [91]. 795 AB IPC Order H2004-004 at [19]. 796 Pearsall, Judy, Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th Ed., (Oxford University Press) at p. 999. See also SK OIPC Review Reports F-2006-004 at [43], LA-2013-003 at [26] and 139-2017 at [91]. 797 SK OIPC Review Report 125-2017 at [30]. 798 AB IPC Order H2004-004 at [19]. Originates from the Concise Oxford Dictionary, Tenth Edition. 799 AB IPC Order H2004-004 at [19]. Originates from the Concise Oxford Dictionary, Tenth Edition.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTgwMjYzOA==