The complainant alleged that Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) did not conduct a reasonable search in response to an access request under the Access to Information Act for records related to the Non-Insured Health Benefits Mental Health Counselling benefit, including the “detailed review” of how services are delivered and associated expenditure decisions; proposals to fund community mental wellness projects outside of Benefits Program authorities, and the "risk-based review to improve financial controls and management practices across all regions".
During the investigation, ISC indicated that the “detailed review” was conducted verbally. However, given that the term “detailed review” came from a Briefing Note prepared by ISC, it was reasonable to conclude that the term “detailed review” was significant, and that some responsive documentation would exist. The OIC also questioned why no records were found relating to parts 2 and 3 of the request.
ISC advised the OIC that the subject matter experts and records holders originally tasked with the search, “searched their records with a broader lens in terms of scope and timeframe”. ISC confirmed that these additional efforts generated at least 170 pages of documents that were not found initially and that those records are now being triaged and reviewed.
The Information Commissioner ordered that ISC complete the retrieval of the records identified by ISC as responsive to the request and provide a new response to the complainant no later than the 36th business day after the effective date of the order. ISC gave notice that it would implement the order.
The complaint is well founded.