The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Michael Harvey, has released his Report A-2022-022 under authority of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015. A summary of the Report is included below.
To view the Report in its entirety, please go to www.oipc.nl.ca/reports/commissioner.
| Report: | A-2022-022 |
| Report Date: | October 21, 2022 |
| Public Body: | Department of Health and Community Services |
| Summary: | The Complainant, the Office of the Official Opposition, made an access request under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 to the Department of Health and Community Services. The Department did not respond to the request within the timeframe required by section 16 of the Act. Section 16 says that a failure to respond by the deadline is considered to be a refusal of access, so the Complainant asked the Commissioner to investigate the Department’s deemed refusal. The Commissioner found that the Department had not complied with its obligations under the Act, in particular sections 13 (duty to assist) and 16 (time limit for final response). A final response to the access request was provided to the Complainant during informal resolution, 213 business days after the request had been made to the Department. The Commissioner recommended that the Department review its policies, assign additional staff as early as possible, maintain communication with applicants, and comply with its statutory duties in the future. |
-30-
Media contact
Sean Murray
Director of Research and Quality Assurance
709-729-6309
2022 10 24
3:50 pm