5820-04528 — National Capital Commission

The complainant alleged the National Capital Commission (NCC) improperly withheld records concerning renovation projects at Rideau Hall under various provisions of the Access to Information Act. While the NCC initially cited exemptions related to facilitating offences and negotiations, the investigation focused on the personal information exemption. The NCC eventually disclosed some information it had withheld, but the Commissioner found that the remaining personal information, including an employee's name, title, and contact details, did not meet the exemption criteria. Furthermore, the NCC failed to reasonably exercise its discretion regarding publicly available personal information. The Commissioner ordered the NCC to disclose the information and to properly exercise its discretion.

• Whether the NCC properly applied the personal information exemption (subsection 19(1)) to employee contact information.
• Whether the NCC reasonably exercised its discretion to disclose publicly available personal information.
• Whether certain information qualified as personal information under subsection 19(1) or was excluded under paragraph 3(j) of the Privacy Act.