ACCESS TO INFORMATION |
Canada (Information Commissioner) v. Canada (Minister of Industry)
T-394-99
Gibson J.
14/1/00
17 pp.
Application for judicial review of Minister of Industry Canada's withholding of information on basis of various exemptions under Act, s. 21(1)(a) (advice or recommendations developed by or for government institution or minister of Crown)--Minister refused to disclose percentage weightings assigned to evaluation criteria used to assess certain proposals received by respondent--Application allowed--Canadian Council of Christian Charities v. Canada (Minister of Finance), [1999] 4 F.C. 245 (T.D.) applied as to standard of review applicable to Minister's refusal to disclose information: while Court required to review Minister's decision on standard of correctness, certainly appropriate to have regard to report and recommendations of Information Commissioner--Court should not attempt to exercise discretion de novo but should look at surrounding circumstances and simply consider whether discretion appears to have been exercised in good faith and for some reasons rationally connected to purpose for which discretion granted: Kelly v. Canada (Solicitor General) (1992), 53 F.T.R. 147 (T.D.); affd (1993), 154 N.R. 319 (C.A.)--On standard of correctness, weightings could appropriately be characterized as advice or recommendations developed by government institution for minister of Crown and thus within scope of Act, s. 21(1)(a)--Thus reasonably open to respondent to exercise discretion to exempt weightings from disclosure--In November 1996, nature of evaluation criteria and weightings changed from advice or recommendations to respondent to decisions of respondent--They then ceased to fall within ambit of Act, s. 21(1)(a) and thereafter continued to be outside ambit of provision at all subsequent relevant times--While weightings may have originated as advice or recommendations to respondent, they lost that character when respondent accepted advice or recommendations--When respondent did so, weightings became respondent's decisions and ceased to be advice or recommendations to him--If separate record of decision had been prepared, conclusion might have been different with respect to documents herein, but that scenario not before Court--Case of 3430901 Canada Inc. v. Canada (Minister of Industry), [1999] F.C.J. No. 1859 (T.D.) (Q.L.), where, on differing facts, percentage weightings found to be exempt as recommendations or advice, based on same reasoning as herein--Here, specific recommendation as to resolution of any policy debate surrounding appropriate weightings--Access to Information Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. A-1, s. 21(1)(a).