Canadian privacy & access decisions

The complainant alleged that Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) improperly withheld information under various sections of the Access to Information Act in response to a request for records related to a specific contract. During the investigation, the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) narrowed the scope to NRCan's application of paragraphs 20(1)(b) and 20(1)(c). NRCan and the third party, Welund North America, failed to demonstrate that all requirements for these exemptions were met for most of the withheld information. The OIC found that only a void cheque and unit prices/quantities qualified for exemption. The Commissioner recommended that NRCan disclose all other information previously withheld under these paragraphs. NRCan made an additional disclosure but did not fully implement the recommendation. The complaint was found to be well founded.

• Whether the information is financial, commercial, scientific or technical under s.20(1)(b) ATIA
• Whether the information is confidential under s.20(1)(b) ATIA
• Whether the information was supplied by a third party under s.20(1)(b) ATIA
• Whether the third party consistently treated the information as confidential under s.20(1)(b) ATIA
• Whether disclosure could result in material financial loss or gain to the third party under s.20(1)(c) ATIA
• Whether there is a reasonable expectation of harm under s.20(1)(c) ATIA
• Whether disclosure could injure the competitive position of the third party under s.20(1)(c) ATIA