Sask. privacy commissioner says province wrong to withhold requested information from Germany trade mission

Saskatchewan privacy commissioner Ronald Kruzeniski speaks at a news conference in Regina in this file photo from 2015.

The Saskatchewan government wrongfully withheld specific information regarding a 2023 trade mission to Germany, a report from the province’s information and privacy commissioner says.

According to the report, released in January, an unidentified party requested information with a FOIP (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) pertaining to receipts for expenses, schedules, and meeting notes from the trip, which took place in Berlin and Frankfurt between May 1 and June 5, 2023.

Only some of the requested information was provided to the unnamed organization from Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Trade and Export Development, privacy commissioner Ronald Kruzenski noted in the report.

The unnamed organization asking for the information requested the following, according to the report:

“All receipts for all expenses, including accommodation, travel, meals, incidental and miscellaneous for the Minister, staff and any other accompanying parties - Minister’s itinerary and meeting notes - Itineraries and meeting notes from staff including in advance of travel.”

The ministry received the request nearly a year after the trade mission.

According to the report, the information wrongfully withheld included airline names, names of hotels, logos and addresses along with handwritten notes added to receipts that had already been printed.

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The province claimed that the information not provided was not relevant to the request.

Kruzeniski said in the report that all of the information not provided was indeed relevant to the request and also said that further information needs to be released where he discovered exemptions were not valid.

The province can either choose to ignore the privacy commissioner’s request or comply with it.

In an emailed statement to CTV News the province said it takes transparency seriously, adding that is the reason all ministerial out-of-province travel costs are disclosed online for the public to review.

“Officials with the Ministry of Trade and Export Development are currently reviewing the Acting Commissioner’s recommendations and will take them into consideration when determining next steps,” the statement read.

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Kruzeniski’s full report can be found here.