Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 6, Protection of Privacy. Updated 27 February 2023. 59 Obtained means to acquire in any way; to get possession of; to procure; or to get a hold of by effort.162 As the Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed, “the words of an Act are to be read in their entire context and in their grammatical and ordinary sense harmoniously with the scheme of the Act, the object of the Act and the intention” of the Legislature. As such, the word “obtained” does not cover information developed or created by a government institution.163 Tax return is a form used to report taxable income or property for federal, provincial, or municipal purposes and includes personal and property tax information.164 Gathered for the purpose of collecting a tax means the information was collected by authorities for the purpose of collecting due or overdue taxes, for a federal, provincial, or municipal government. For example, information gathered in a municipal tax return in relation to eligibility for a homeowner grant.165 Information needs to be collected for the sole or primary purpose of collecting a tax to qualify. Information collected for a different purpose but later used for collecting a tax would not qualify as having been “gathered for the purpose of collecting a tax”.166 The word “gathered” does not cover information that was generated or created by a government institution by applying skills, techniques, and professional judgement to information that it has gathered (even where underlying information that is analyzed to create the disputed information has been gathered directly from a taxpayer).167 Government institutions may gather information relating to the taxpayer from a variety of sources – including sources other than tax returns and sources other than the taxpayer – and then record that information. Such information, in the state in which it was gathered or as 162 Originated from Campbell Black, Henry, 1990. Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group. Adopted by AB IPC in Order 2000-021 at [26]. Adopted in SK OIPC Review Report F-2006001 at [58] and [59]. Also, found in SK OIPC Review Report F-2006-002 at [39]. 163 BC IPC Order F05-29 at [90] to [91]. 164 British Columbia Government Services, FOIPPA Policy Definitions at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/services-for-government/policiesprocedures/foippa-manual/policy-definitions. Accessed April 23, 2020. 165 British Columbia Government Services, FOIPPA Policy Definitions at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/services-for-government/policiesprocedures/foippa-manual/policy-definitions. Accessed April 23, 2020. 166 See BC IPC Orders 00-10 at p. 20 and F15-19 at [24]. 167 See BC IPC Orders F05-29 at [96] and F15-19 at [25].
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