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Ministry of Finance |
Ministry of Energy |
Mr. Stephen LeClair
Financial Accountability Officer
Room 1601, Whitney Block, Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A2
June 17, 2015
Dear Mr. LeClair:
We are following up on our letter of June 1, 2015 regarding your request for "data, information and related assumptions that support the Government's valuation estimate of Hydro One, as well as any information that explains the Government's assessment of the fiscal impact on the Province of Ontario's financial statements."
The Ministries of Finance and Energy have completed our review of relevant documents to determine what information can be provided within the context of the prohibition against the provision of records that would reveal the substance of deliberations of the Executive Council or its committees as described in section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).
In order to determine whether records containing the requested information would be described in subsection 12(1) of FIPPA, we considered whether such records would be exempt from disclosure under that same section should they be subject to a freedom of information access request.
The records in question were either used to prepare documents, or included in documents, submitted to the Treasury Board of Cabinet and Cabinet and would inform or disclose advice, analysis and recommendations prepared for the consideration of the Premier and the Cabinet. Given their nature and content, access to the information contained in these records would not be permissible under the mandatory Cabinet Record exemption in subsection 12(1) of FIPPA and we are, therefore, under a statutory obligation not to disclose them pursuant to section 12(2) of the Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013.
As we indicated in our June 1 correspondence, we would like to work with your Office in response to your request. While we are unable to provide the requested information, we would be pleased to arrange a subsequent briefing with your office to provide a background on Hydro One and discuss the principles and methodologies for a valuation of Hydro One.
Furthermore, as previously discussed with your Office, Ministry of Finance staff have developed a draft guide to facilitate the interaction between your Office and the Ontario Public Service and we will be sharing this draft guide with your staff for discussion and input shortly.
We would be happy to discuss these matters further should you have any questions,
Scott Thompson
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Finance
Serge Imbrogno
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Energy
c:
Andrew Teliszewsky
Chris Giannekos
Ronald Kwan
Michael Reid
