Decisions

The complainant alleged that Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) had improperly withheld information under paragraph 20(1)(b) (confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific or technical information) and 20(1)(c) (financial impact on a third party) of the Access to Information Act. This was in response to an access request for records related to a specific contract. The complaint falls within paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

NRCan and the third party did not show that all of the requirements of paragraphs 20(1)(b) and 20(1)(c) were met for portions of the information.

The Information Commissioner recommended that NRCan disclose all information previously withheld under paragraphs 20(1)(b) and (c), other than a void cheque and the unit prices and quantities. NRCan did not inform the Commissioner, as required by subsection 37(1), whether they would implement the recommendation. Instead, they disclosed additional information to the complainant and provided a copy to the Office of the Information Commissioner. Upon review, the Information Commissioner noted that the additional disclosure did not include all of the information subject to her recommendation.

The complaint is well founded.

The complainant alleged that National Defence did not conduct reasonable searches in response to access requests under the Access to Information Act for records relating to certain contracts. The complaints fall within paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

The investigations determined that National Defence had not attempted to retrieve records in the possession of the third party that National Defence was entitled to obtain under the contract. As a result of the investigations, National Defence contacted the contractor to request copies of the records and retrieved the documents.

The Information Commissioner ordered that National Defence process any additional records located, provide new responses to the complainant that either give access to any additional records or identify why the additional records are not responsive to the request.

National Defence gave notice to the Commissioner that it would be implementing the orders.

The complaints are well founded.