By Mark Squibb
The Province’s Privacy Commissioner has determined the Department of Municipal Affairs was in the right when staff withheld material from a person seeking information on the establishment of an environmental reserve at Ragged Beach in Witless Bay.
Government’s search produced more than 700 pages of records.
When presenting the information to the applicant, the department redacted some information. The applicant then filed an appeal arguing the blacked-out sections prevented a full understanding of how government came to make its decision on the creation of the reserve.
Staff at the department maintain they withheld the information to protect both solicitor-client privilege and the identities of third-party individuals.
Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey, in a decision dated March 15, determined the Department was right in its decision to redact some of the information.
The provincial government announced the establishment of the reserve, with the intent of protecting puffin populations that breed off the coast each year, in September 2023. The establishment of the reserve would see new development of Crown Land in the area restricted.
The area has been a hotbed of debate for over a decade, with several Witless Bay residents and councillors going head-to-head against a couple of private landowners who wanted to develop single family homes on their land.
