3217-00208 — Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
The complainant alleged that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) improperly withheld information under several sections of the Access to Information Act in response to a request for records about increased sick leave prior to retirement. During the investigation, the complainant narrowed the scope of the complaint, dropping the s.19(1) personal information claim and focusing on specific pages. The OIC found that TBS failed to demonstrate a reasonable expectation of harm for its s.18(b) claim, noting the statistical and dated nature of the information and the ongoing nature of negotiations. TBS also failed to substantiate its s.21(1)(a) claim for advice or recommendations. For s.21(1)(c) and s.21(1)(d), the OIC concluded that the information consisted of statistics, not positions, plans for negotiations, or plans related to personnel management. The Information Commissioner recommended full disclosure of the pages at issue, but TBS declined to implement the recommendations. The complaint was found to be well founded.
- 1Whether s.18(b) ATIA (negotiations by government institutions) was properly applied to statistical and dated information about sick leave usage
- 2Whether there was a reasonable expectation of harm to negotiations from disclosing sick leave usage data
- 3Whether s.21(1)(a) ATIA (advice or recommendations) was properly applied to a briefing note on sick leave usage
- 4Whether the information constituted advice or recommendations under s.21(1)(a)
- 5Whether s.21(1)(c) ATIA (positions or plans developed for negotiations) was properly applied to statistics and analyses about sick leave usage
- 6Whether the information consisted of positions or plans developed for negotiations under s.21(1)(c)
- 7Whether s.21(1)(d) ATIA (plans related to personnel management or administration) was properly applied to statistics and analyses about sick leave usage
- 8Whether the information consisted of plans related to personnel management or administration under s.21(1)(d)
- s.18(b) financial interests: Exemption not upheld
- s.21(1)(a) advice/recommendations: Exemption not upheld
- s.21(1)(c) negotiations: Exemption not upheld
- s.21(1)(d) personnel management: Exemption not upheld
- Disclosure of records: Full disclosure recommended
- Complaint status: Well founded
Complaint well founded — disclosure recommended, but institution declined to implement
The institution failed to demonstrate a reasonable expectation of harm for its s.18(b) claim, did not provide representations to substantiate its s.21(1)(a) claim, and the information at issue did not meet the criteria for s.21(1)(c) or s.21(1)(d) as it consisted of statistics rather than plans or positions.
The Information Commissioner recommended that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat disclose all pages at issue in full.
- s.18(b) ATIA
- s.21(1)(a) ATIA
- s.21(1)(c) ATIA
- s.21(1)(d) ATIA
- s.19(1) ATIA
This summary is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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