Access to Information Orders
Decision Information
• The identity of a specified requester under the Act.
• Section 2(1) (definition of "personal information") - the identity of the requester did not qualify as "personal information."
• No mandatory or discretionary exemptions applied.
• The ORC was ordered to disclose the identity of the requester to the appellant.
Decision Content
NATURE OF THE APPEAL:
The Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) received a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act) for access to submission and evaluation records relating to a specific Request for Qualification (RFQ). An RFQ is a procurement tool used by the ORC as a precursor to the Request for Proposals (RFP). The purpose of an RFQ is to select a list of qualified bidders who will be entitled to submit proposals in response to the RFP.
The ORC identified the responsive records related to the request and notified several affected parties to obtain their views regarding disclosure of the records.
Subsequently, one of the affected parties made a separate request to the ORC under the Act for access to the identity of the individual who originally requested the information. The ORC identified the written freedom of information request submitted by the original requester as the responsive record and notified that individual that there was a request for access to his/her identity. The ORC asked the original requester to submit his views regarding disclosure of the responsive record. The ORC did not receive a response.
The ORC then issued a final decision granting access in full to the responsive record. Before releasing the record, however, the ORC advised the original requester that he had the opportunity to appeal the ORC’s decision to this office.
The original requester, now the appellant, appealed the ORC’s decision to disclose his identity claiming that his name was “personal information” and was “irrelevant to the original request.”