|
Privacy - Privacy Act. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v. Canada (Parole Board)
In Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v. Canada (Parole Board) (Fed CA, 2023) the Federal Court of Appeal considered an appeal from a JR of a Parole Board of Canada decision to refuse access to audio recordings of several parole hearings. In these quotes the court resolves the complex statutory issue by (unconvincing) resort to the Privacy Act [s.8(2)(m)(i)], where the public interest in the hearings is weighed with the privacy interests of the offenders:[71] Provision does exist for the disclosure of personal information in certain circumstances, notably under paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act, which I reproduce once more for the sake of convenience:8 (2) Subject to any other Act of Parliament, personal information under the control of a government institution may be disclosed
8 (2) Sous réserve d’autres lois fédérales, la communication des renseignements personnels qui relèvent d’une institution fédérale est autorisée dans les cas suivants :
...
(m) for any purpose where, in the opinion of the head of the institution,
(m) communication à toute autre fin dans les cas où, de l’avis du responsable de l’institution :
(i) the public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs any invasion of privacy that could result from the disclosure, or
(i) des raisons d’intérêt public justifieraient nettement une éventuelle violation de la vie privée,
(ii) disclosure would clearly benefit the individual to whom the information relates. ....
[89] As a result, I would allow the appeal from the Federal Court, set aside the Federal Court’s judgment, and allow the CBC’s application for judicial review and set aside the Board’s decision. Making the order that the Federal Court should have made, I would order:1)That the matter be returned to the Parole Board of Canada for reconsideration on the basis that the weighing of interests contemplated in subparagraph 8(2)(m)(i) of the Privacy Act must be undertaken with respect to each request on the basis of the considerations set out in paragraphs 77 to 84 of these reasons; ...
|
