MO-4591-I

This second interim order follows Interim Order MO-4488-I, in which the IPC ordered the respondent board to issue a new access decision in response to a request for a line-by-line breakdown of the 2020 Toronto Police Service budget for six specified police units and services, organized by individual program area, function, and service delivered. In the first interim order, the adjudicator found that the board’s disclosures to that point did not fully respond to the appellant’s request for a detailed budget breakdown, including specified components. She also found that the board had failed to clearly articulate or substantiate a claim that responsive budget information does not exist, or otherwise cannot be produced for the purposes of access under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act).
In this second interim order, the adjudicator considers the board’s evidence in support of its revised decision that responsive budget information “never existed and it is not possible to produce this information.” She finds that the board has again failed to substantiate a claim that responsive budget information either does not exist, or exists but cannot be produced for the purposes of the Act. She orders the board to conduct another search for responsive information in its custody or control. If, following this search, the board concludes that responsive information does not exist anywhere in its record holdings, or cannot be produced in the form of a “record” for the purposes of the Act, the board must provide a detailed explanation of how it reached this conclusion. The adjudicator remains seized of the appeal to address issues arising from this second interim order.