Federal (Canada) Privacy Decisions

The requester filed a complaint after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) failed to respond to an access to information request for over two years. The RCMP provided insufficient information during the investigation regarding the records or the processing of the request. As a result, the Information Commissioner found the complaint to be well-founded and ordered the RCMP to respond to the request within 10 business days.

• Failure to respond to an access to information request within the prescribed time limits.
• Adequacy of information provided by the institution during the investigation.

A requester alleged that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) failed to respond to an access to information request within the statutory time limit. The RCMP was deemed to have refused access as they did not respond by the due date. Although the RCMP cited high volume and resource pressures, the Commissioner found these reasons did not justify the delay, especially given the moderate volume of records. The complaint was found to be well-founded. An initial report with an intended order was issued, but the RCMP subsequently responded to the request, rendering the order moot.

• Failure to respond within statutory time limits
• Adequacy of reasons for delay
• Assessment of record volume and complexity

An institution applied to the Information Commissioner for approval to decline to act on an access request, claiming it was vexatious and an abuse of the right to access records. The institution noted the requester had submitted 893 requests over 17 years, many similar to the current one. The Commissioner found that 11 of the requests were duplicative and that the requester had not provided justification for resubmitting them. The Commissioner concluded that the volume and repetitive nature of the requests, combined with the requester's history of complaints, amounted to an abuse of the right of access.

• Whether the access request was vexatious
• Whether the access request constituted an abuse of the right to access records
• Whether the institution met the threshold for declining to act on the request