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ARTICLE · 08 MARCH 2024

The Ultimate Balancing Act: Right To Information Vs Need For Confidentiality

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With the rise of technology comes a breadth of knowledge and information readily available to the public. However, the start of 2024 has brought the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling in Ontario...

CanadaPrivacy
Monika Steger
Monika Steger
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With the rise of technology comes a breadth of knowledge and information readily available to the public. However, the start of 2024 has brought the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling in Ontario (Attorney General) v. Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2024 SCC 4, which set aside the decision of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario ("IPC"), a decision which had been affirmed by both the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal for Ontario. In this decision, it was held that in certain circumstances the confidentiality of the executive outweighs the public's right to information.

BACKGROUND

This decision arose from a CBC journalist's request to access the 23 letters that the Premier of Ontario had delivered to each of his ministers shortly after forming the government in 2018. These letters are commonly referred to as "mandate letters" and they set out the Premier's views on policy priorities. The Cabinet Office declined the

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