Federal (Canada) Privacy Decisions

The Information Commissioner determined that a complaint was inadmissible because it was not filed within the 60-day time limit required by section 31 of the Access to Information Act. The complainant argued that the time limit should start from when they recovered a deleted email from the institution, but the Commissioner found that the period for submitting the complaint began the day after the institution's response was received. The Act does not grant the Commissioner the power to extend this mandatory time limit.

• Timeliness of complaint submission under section 31 of the ATIA
• Interpretation of 'in any other case' in section 31
• Commencement date for the 60-day complaint period

The complainant alleged that Transport Canada improperly withheld records concerning the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft system (MCAS) under exemptions related to personal information, trade secrets, and financial impact on a third party. The Information Commissioner found that the institution and the third party (Boeing) failed to demonstrate that all withheld information met the criteria for these exemptions. The Commissioner ordered Transport Canada to disclose specific information and to re-exercise its discretion regarding disclosure for public safety reasons.

• Whether withheld information met the criteria for exemption under paragraph 20(1)(b) (confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific or technical information).
• Whether withheld information met the criteria for exemption under paragraph 20(1)(a) (third-party trade secrets).
• Whether withheld information met the criteria for exemption under paragraph 20(1)(c) (financial impact on a third party).
• Whether Transport Canada reasonably exercised its discretion under subsection 20(6) for disclosure in the public interest.