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Annual Report on the Access to Information Act for the period ending March 31, 2019

4. Complaints

Individuals who are not satisfied with the processing of their access to information request can file a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC).

The OIC received a total of 4 complaints against Elections Canada in 2018–2019. At the beginning of the reporting period, the OIC also had 8 outstanding complaints received in previous years to consider. Nine complaints against Elections Canada were closed in 2018–2019.

The OIC determined that one complaint received in 2018–2019 was not well-founded, as Elections Canada had claimed a reasonable extension of time and fulfilled its duty to assist under subsection 4(2.1) of the Act. Two complaints received in 2018–2019 concerned alleged delays in providing the requested records. One of the complaints was resolved, as the OIC determined that Elections Canada had already provided the records to the requester prior to the start of their investigation. The OIC determined that the other complaint was well-founded. One complaint received in 2018–2019 alleging that Elections Canada had improperly applied exemptions is still under investigation.

Two complaints from 2014–2015 alleging that Elections Canada had improperly applied exemptions or failed to provide all records responsive to the request were not well-founded. The OIC determined that another complaint from 2017–2018 was also not well-founded, as they were satisfied that the requested records were not under the control of Elections Canada for the purposes of the Act.

A complaint from 2017–2018 alleging that records should exist in response to a request and another from 2016–2017 regarding a miscellaneous matter, were both discontinued.

One complaint received in 2016–2017 relating to Elections Canada's application of exemptions was well-founded and resolved in 2018–2019.