3217-00064 — Privy Council Office and Canadian Security and Intelligence Service and Global Affairs Canada and National Defence and Communications Security Establishment
The complainant alleged that the Privy Council Office (PCO) improperly withheld information under subsections 13(1) and 15(1) of the Access to Information Act in response to a request for Minutes of the Joint Intelligence Committee from 1966. During the investigation, PCO agreed to disclose most of the previously withheld information but maintained exemptions for specific categories, including names and titles of Liaison Officers, information on visits of Intelligence Community members, dissemination markings, names of Communications Security Establishment (CSE) employees, and certain intelligence report titles. The Information Commissioner found that PCO failed to demonstrate that any of the remaining withheld information met the requirements of either subsection 13(1) or 15(1), citing lack of evidence for confidentiality, public availability of similar information, and speculative harm arguments. Consequently, the Commissioner recommended full disclosure of the remaining information, except for the names of Liaison Officers which the complainant did not object to redacting. PCO notified the Commissioner that it would not implement the recommendations, stating it would disclose a high percentage but not all, and would conduct further interdepartmental consultations.
- 1Whether information was obtained in confidence from a government body under s.13(1) ATIA
- 2Whether titles of Liaison Officers from other countries were obtained in confidence
- 3Whether information regarding visits of Intelligence Community members from other countries was obtained in confidence
- 4Whether disclosure of information could reasonably be expected to harm international affairs, defence, or national security under s.15(1) ATIA
- 5Whether disclosure of titles of Liaison Officers from other countries could reasonably be expected to cause harm under s.15(1) ATIA
- 6Whether disclosure of distribution markings of classified reports could reasonably be expected to cause harm under s.15(1) ATIA
- 7Whether disclosure of names of CSE employees could reasonably be expected to cause harm under s.15(1) ATIA
- 8Whether disclosure of certain intelligence report titles could reasonably be expected to cause harm under s.15(1) ATIA
- 9Whether PCO reasonably exercised its discretion to disclose information under s.13(2) ATIA
- 10Whether PCO reasonably exercised its discretion to disclose information under s.15(1) ATIA
- Application of s. 13(1): Exemption not justified
- Application of s. 15(1): Exemption not justified
- Disclosure of records: Full disclosure recommended (except Liaison Officers)
- Redaction of Liaison Officers' names: Redaction accepted by complainant
- Compliance with recommendations: Institution refused to implement recommendations fully
Complaint well founded — disclosure ordered, but institution refused to comply
The Commissioner found that PCO failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify the application of subsections 13(1) and 15(1) for the remaining withheld information. Publicly available information and previous disclosures by Canada and allied countries contradicted PCO's claims of confidentiality and potential harm, and PCO's arguments were deemed speculative.
The Commissioner recommended that the Privy Council Office disclose the records in their entirety, with the exception of the names of Liaison Officers from other allied countries, and provide a new response to the request within 60 business days.
- s.13(1) ATIA
- s.15(1) ATIA
- s.30(1)(a) ATIA
- s.13(2) ATIA
- s.15(2) ATIA
- s.43 ATIA
This summary is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Related by meaning
Decisions with similar reasoning and facts — found by AI across statutes and jurisdictions, not just keywords.
Coverage — 13 of 14 jurisdictions searchable
Fully searchable: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, New Brunswick, Manitoba.
Partial (recent decisions only): Federal (Canada) (651 of 1,631), Nova Scotia (49 of 472), Quebec (6 of 7,090), Prince Edward Island (2 of 279), Yukon (1 of 75).
Coming soon: Nunavut — being re-processed for AI search.
Find decisions like this one — by meaning, not keywords.
Related by meaning is a Pro feature. Upgrade to surface conceptually similar decisions across the corpus, powered by AI.
Upgrade to Pro