TORONTO - Ontario's information and privacy watchdog has cleared finance officials of any political interference in freedom-of-information requests but says more training is needed to avoid similar delays in the future.
Commissioner Ann Cavoukian decided to look into the issue after the NDP alleged a Liberal staffer -- now spokesman to the finance minister -- attempted to deny and delay records requested under FOI.
Cavoukian says has received assurances from Finance Minister Dwight Duncan there was no political interference, and believes that was the case.
But she says changes are needed to some parts of the ministry's FOI process to ensure inaction doesn't lead to any more "unacceptable" delays.
She also suggested training to help all staffers understand their responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act.
New Democrats had circulated emails from Finance spokesman Andrew Chornenky telling officials to label some FOI requests as "contentious" -- a label they say is code for slowing release of data.
Duncan dismissed those accusations, saying it was just a word that alerts ministers to the contentious nature of a request.
In another example, Chornenky told FOI officials to "just say no records exist."
Cavoukian found that email showed Chornenky didn't understand he should have passed the request on to the appropriate ministry -- not that he wished to interfere.
