Latest Blog Posts
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Confidentiality Clauses in Contracts (updated)
A lot of our work centers around a citizen wanting a contract that a ministry, city, town or municipality has entered into. The public body does not want to release it, for among other reasons, the contract has a confidentiality clause. The Cities Act and The Municipalities Act specifically provides that a citizen can inspect... read more
3 Minutes for a Search (updated)
As public bodies have gone to doing the majority of their communicating by email, access requests for records of emails have increased. I expect such requests will continue. If the access request is for recent records (emails) an employee can perform a search in Outlook (or other email programs) and very quickly locate the emails... read more
Collection/Disclosure; A Two-Step Analysis (updated)
When personal information or personal health information (information) is shared by one public body with another, the issue arises as to who has the authority to disclose and who has the authority to collect. Many collections of information happen when you or I visit a public body, apply for a service or benefit and fill... read more
Demystifying Access to Information Rights
What rights do members of the public have when it comes to access to information? The right to access information in government records is established at the federal and provincial level. Federally, the Access to Information Act is overseen by the Information Commissioner of Canada. For more on this, please visit the Information Commissioner of... read more