Law360 Canada ( February 2, 2024, 6:02 PM EST) -- Appeal by the Attorney General for Ontario (AG Ontario) from a judgment of the Ontario Court of Appeal which upheld a decision of the Divisional Court affirming a decision ordering the disclosure of mandate letters (Letters) sent to Cabinet ministers. A journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) requested access to Letters sent by the Premier of Ontario to Cabinet ministers. The Cabinet Office denied CBC’s request on the basis that the disclosure of the Letters would reveal the substance of deliberations of Cabinet or its committees. The CBC appealed to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC). The IPC determined the Letters did not fall within the exclusion set out in s. 12(1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Act) and ordered that the Letters be disclosed to the CBC. It found no evidence to support the Cabinet Office's position that the Letters would reveal deliberations by the Premier or Cabinet ministers or that the Letters would be the basis of discussion of future Cabinet deliberations. The Divisional Court found that the IPC's decision was reasonable and dismissed AG Ontario’s application for judicial review. The majority of the Court of Appeal dismissed AG Ontario’s appeal. It concluded the Divisional Court made no error in determining that the IPC’s decision was reasonable. While the CBC sought to uphold the IPC’s decision, the AG Ontario submitted that the IPC’s decision was unreasonable....