Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have some written comments here, because this motion is quite complicated. Mr. Chair, clause 17 of Bill 29 proposes to add a provision requiring that, where someone makes an access-to-information request, the head of a public body must refuse to disclose labour relations information that could reveal information supplied to or the report of an arbitrator, mediator, labour relations officer, or other person dealing with a labour relations matter. The committee was concerned that the provision, as written in the bill, did not provide clear enough direction on what constitutes "labour relations information." The committee was also concerned that the provision in the bill was too broad and could potentially exempt from disclosure a significant amount of information that would otherwise be available to an applicant. As such, the committee sought to narrow this provision so as to limit the exemption to a much narrower category of information.
Both the Department of Justice's legislative drafters and the committee's law clerk proposed motions to address this concern. The motion before us today is the result of a compromise reached on these earlier drafts. It specifies, as did the original clause in the bill, that the head of a public body shall refuse to disclose labour relations information that could reveal information supplied to or the report of an arbitrator, mediator, labour relations officer, or other person dealing with a labour relations matter, but it further specifies that this includes information or records prepared by the public body in contemplation of litigation, arbitration, or a settlement offer. It also specifies that this further includes labour relations information that was developed in confidence by the public body, as an employer, and has been treated consistently as confidential information.
Another notable feature of this motion is that, to be protected from disclosure, labour relations information must also meet the following test: that it could harm the competitive position of the public body as an employer; that it could interfere with the negotiating position of a public body as an employer; or that it could result in significant financial loss or gain to the public body as an employer.
Finally, Mr. Chair, the motion adds a subsection to the provision which provides that, notwithstanding the protections set out above, an applicant who is party to a labour relations matter must have access to any relevant information that the party would otherwise be entitled to receive with respect to the matter at hand.
The committee believes that this revised motion provides enough direction to strike an appropriate balance between privacy and access to labour relations information, such that highly confidential and personal labour relations-related information is only disclosed to parties with a direct interest in a labour relations matter, while ensuring that broader types of labour relations information must only be withheld by public bodies where there is a risk of harm.
The committee, again, thanks the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues for their support in amending Bill 29. Thank you, Mr. Chair.