Councillors have received a number of questions and requests for background information on the legislation that governs the protection of personal information.
The legislation that speaks of not releasing personal information is the “Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M.56”
Here are some relevant excerpts as provided by the Clerk’s office. The legislation in it entirety is available for review in the Clerk’s office.
Section 14(1) of the Act states that a head shall refuse to disclose personal information except under certain circumstances including ( but not limited to) (f) if the disclosure does not constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy.
Section 14(2) states that in “determining whether a disclosure of personal information constitutes an unjustified invasion of personal privacy, shall consider all the relevant circumstances, including ( but not limited to) whether (e) the individual to whom the information relates will be exposed unfairly to pecuniary or other harm; (f) the personal information is highly sensitive;(h) the personal information has been supplied by the individual to whom the information relates in confidence; and (i) the disclosure may unfairly damage the reputation of any person referred to in the record.
Pursuant to section 14(3) disclosure of personal information is presumed to constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy if the personal information, ( among other things) (d) relates to employment or educational history; (f) describes an individual’s finances, income, assets, liabilities, net worth, bank balances, financial history or activities, or creditworthiness; and (g) consists of personal recommendations or evaluations, character references or personnel evaluations.
The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act effectively supercedes this legislation once a year as follows:
Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996 S.O. 1996, CHAPTER 1 states in Section 3(1) that “Not later than March 31 of each year beginning with the year 1996, every employer shall make available for inspection by the public without charge a written record of the amount of salary and benefits paid in the previous year by the employer to or in respect of an employee to whom the employer paid at least $100,000 as salary.
Section 3(2) states that “The record shall indicate the year to which the information on it relates, shall list employees alphabetically by surname, and shall show for each employee,
(a) the employee’s name as shown on the employer’s payroll records;
(b) the office or position last held by the employee with the employer in the year;
(c) the amount of salary paid by the employer to the employee in the year;
(d) the amount of benefits reported to Revenue Canada, Taxation, under the Income Tax Act (Canada) by the employer for the employee in the year. ”
While the City of Guelph cannot disclose an indiviudal’s compensation (except as provided for under the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act), the City can disclose the salary range for a given position as this information is related to a position and not an individual.