The complainant alleged that National Defence (DND) performed an incomplete search for records in response to a request under the Access to Information Act for the Official Radio Log Book of the HMCS Shawinigan from August 1, 2016 to October 31, 2016.

During the investigation, the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) learned that DND tasked the appropriate program area, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), with the retrieval of the requested records. However, the RCN responded that the requested records had been “lost”.

Despite DND’s Summary Investigation, DND failed to reach any definitive conclusions as to how or when the HMCS Shawinigan Tactical Communication log came to be lost.

The investigation highlights the implications of deficiencies in records management and the impact this may have on the right of access. However, there is no basis upon which the OIC can conclude that DND failed to conduct a reasonable search for the records sought or that responsive records could reasonably be found.

A copy of this report will be sent to the Minister of National Defence as a reminder of the importance of good records management practices.

The complaint is not well founded.