Posted by Phil Andrews

The Mercury tried to obtain the report of the Ontario Fire Marshal's office into a probe of a Nov. 20 fire in Eden Mills. It submitted a request for the document under the province's access to information legislation. The request was denied this month.

The fire was at a home where a husband and wife died that day. The two were in their 40s.

The public has never been informed of the nature of the deaths or what caused the fire. It has not even been provided with a damage estimate connected to the fire.

The incident was the subject of considerable conjecture in the community. The citizens who died were somewhat prominent. One was a firefighter. The other was a staffer in a Hamilton law firm.

The lead rationale cited for withholding the report:

"The ministry may refuse to disclose a record where the disclosure could reasonable be expected to interfere with a law enforcement matter;"

and

"The ministry may refuse to disclose a record where the disclosure could reasonably be expected to facilitate the commission of an unlawful act or hamper the control of crime;"

Given that the OPP has said no criminal charges are going to arise from this matter, it's frustrating that the report is being kept out of the public realm. A far more appropriate response to the FOI request would have been to provide the requested document, with the information that the ministry deems exempt excised from the report.

The communications surrounding this case have raised several questions in the community and they will likely continue to do so.

We're likely to appeal the decision to reject the FOI request