Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to LA FOIP, Chapter 4, Exemptions from the Right of Access. Updated 18 Oct 2023. 54 When there is a review by the IPC, the local authority is invited to provide a submission (arguments). The local authority should describe how and why disclosure of the information in question could interfere with a lawful investigation. Local authorities should not assume that the harm is self-evident on the face of the records. b) Could release disclose information with respect to a lawful investigation? It is only necessary for the local authority to demonstrate that the information in the record is information with respect to a lawful investigation to meet this part of the test. With respect to are words of the widest possible scope; the phrase is probably the widest of any expression intended to convey some connection between two related subject matters.205 Section 14 of LA FOIP uses the word could versus “could reasonably be expected to” as seen in other provisions of LA 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 asserting the outcome could occur. If it is fanciful or exceedingly remote, the exemption should not be invoked.206 Records that existed before an investigation commenced, such as regular reporting information, may not qualify for the exemption.207 A local authority cannot rely on subsection 14(1)(c) of LA 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 14(2) of LA FOIP). 205 The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) established the meaning of the phrase “in respect of” in Nowegijick v. The Queen, [1983] 1 SCR 29, 1983 CanLII 18 (SCC) at [39]. The SCC later applied the same interpretation to the phrase “with respect to” in CanadianOxy Chemicals Ltd. v. Canada (Attorney General), [1999] 1 SCR 743, 1999 CanLII 680 (SCC) at [15] to [17]. Summary of this can be found in Gardner, J., and Gardner K. (2016) Sangan’s Encyclopedia of Words and Phrases Legal Maxims, Canada, 5th Edition, Volume 5, S to Z at p. w-97. 206SK OIPC Review Reports LA-2007-001 at [117], LA-2013-001 at [35], F-2014-001 at [149]. 207 SK OIPC Review Report 223-2016 at [36] to [37].
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTgwMjYzOA==