The complainant alleged that Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) had improperly withheld information under multiple sections of the Access to Information Act, including:

• Section 14: federal-provincial affairs;
• Subsection 19(1): personal information;
• Paragraph 20(1)(b): confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific or technical information;
• Paragraph 20(1)(c): financial impact on a third party;
• Paragraph 21(1)(a): advice or recommendations; and
• Paragraph 21(1)(b): accounts of consultations or deliberations.

This was in response to a request for the recovery strategy for the whitebark pine. The allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

The parties did not demonstrate that the requirements of the applied exemptions were met for the third-party information. ECCC did not show that it had made reasonable efforts to seek consent under paragraph 19(2)(a) nor did ECCC sever factual information it withheld under paragraphs 21(1)(a) and 21(1)(b).

The Information Commissioner ordered that ECCC disclose certain information where the parties had not demonstrated that the requirements of the exemptions were met. ECCC gave notice to the Commissioner that it would comply with the order. The complaint is well founded.