The exclusion of “constituency records” from the right of public access in Ontario is not new but has garnered recent attention. On October 30th, the IPC held that a request for councillor records “discussing or tracking public opinion on specified issues” was not a request for records under the custody or control of a municipality. Adjudicator Liang held that, although the request was for records relating to matters within the municipality’s mandate, given the municipality had not authorized the named councillors to consider or track public opinion, the request targeted constituency records – records made by the elected officials exclusively in their political capacity.
A legal blog about the law of information by Dan Michaluk of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
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