“The ministry may be impacted upon the release of this records’ package,” the documents read. “The applicant may further release the information into the public domain”
Alberta finance and treasury board officials warned the ministry may be impacted by the release of data displaying the results of the government’s survey on a potential pension plan, according to internal documents.
“The ministry may be impacted upon the release of this records’ package,” the documents state. “The applicant may further release the information into the public domain.”
They further list the potential of subsequent FOIP requests, queries on how the initial requests were processed, and a review from the office of the information and privacy commissioner (OIPC), as other means by which the department could be affected.
The documents show the information was readily available, with an analyst reporting it took “roughly 15 minutes” to track down 400 pages worth of spreadsheet data representing responses to the survey’s long-form questions.
More than 94,000 Albertans completed the online survey to share their views and ideas from Sept. 21 to Dec. 10, according to the documents.
The office of Finance Minister Nate Horner said in a statement that the results of the survey will help inform next steps on a potential provincial pension plan.
“Once we receive that, and engagement is complete, the government will receive a ‘what we heard” report and next steps will be determined,” the statement said.
It did not address questions about what impact department officials were concerned about or why the responses are not being released.
‘It’s not done yet’: Horner
Horner has previously told Postmedia the responses couldn’t be released because the public engagement was incomplete.
“The department’s perspective, their answer to me, was that we shouldn’t give this out because it’s not done yet.”
Officials have also cited section 24(1) of the FOIP Act that exempts information based on advice, proposals, recommendations, analyses or policy options from being disclosed.
There is also nothing in the act requiring records to be complete before they are released.
The OIPC has sought clarification on one of Postmedia’s 12 requests for review but has yet to launch a formal investigation, more than three months after the request was filed.