Latest Blog Posts
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Council Agendas and Meeting Minutes
To be accountable to the public, meetings of council and council committees are public by virtue of section 119 and 120 of The Municipalities Act. Further, subsection 117(1)(d) of The Municipalities Act entitles any person to inspect and obtain copies of council meeting minutes after they have approved by council. To support this accountability, municipalities... read more
Privacy Officer in a Difficult Spot
I encourage every public body to appoint an Access and Privacy Coordinator. In larger organizations you might want to have a position of Chief Privacy Officer (CPO). The reasons for having an Access and Privacy Coordinator or a CPO are that in these times organizations really need one person who is knowledgeable on access and... read more
Lawyers Bills: Are They a “No Brainer”?
We have now had a few reports that have dealt with the application of solicitor-client privilege exemptions (sections 22 of FOIP and 21 of LA FOIP) to lawyers bills. In these cases, the Commissioner relied on a Supreme Court of Canada decision Maranda v. Richer, [2003] 3 S.C.R. 193, 2003 SCC67 to find that lawyers... read more
Access and Privacy Rights of Minors Online
On May 3, 2016, our office posted to our website a blog titled, Who Signs for a Child?. Though the focus of that blog was on who can sign for a child under the age of 18 years, the following advice on mature minors was offered: FOIP and LA FOIP do not contemplate the child... read more