00 05 08 KRAMER, Victor 00 16 15 00 18 25 Applicant 00 20 68 v. COMMISSION SCOLAIRE MARIE-VICTORIN Respondent THE APPLICATION FOR REVIEW Mr. Victor Kramer sought a series of documents relating to his employment with the Commission scolaire Chambly from l969 to 1977. He addressed several requests, over a period of many months, beginning in February l999 with an oral request, to the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin, which had absorbed the previously existing Commission scolaire régionale de Chambly. In response to one of his oral requests, the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin produced an attestation to his employment with the Commission scolaire régionale de Chambly from the first of September l968 to the 30 th of June l977. This letter is dated the December 14, 2000. His subsequent, written requests for documents from the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin and which form the subject of his requests for review to the Commission d’accès à l’information ( the Commission d'accès ) are spaced over a period dating from February 2000 to October 2000.
00 05 08 - 2 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 DOSSIER NO 00 05 08 In a document dated February 21, 2000 and received by the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin on the 22 nd of the same month, Mr. Kramer wrote : I am a certified teacher with over five years experience and not under order-in-council 1447-70. I am respectfully requesting copies of all my service record from 1968-69 to 1976-77 and all my yearly evaluations as a certified teacher (as certified by CSRC) of the Prov. Of Quebec, Canada under the same period including one year as an adult education teacher under CSRC, teaching English. He also requested : (A) Cost of living index adjustment for school year 1976-77, proff from Rejean Quesnel and cheque # (B) The 24 credits of graduate level studies from St. Michael's College and the University of Vermont which is one (1) year scholarity plus my studies in Concordia university which were all received by M. Caron but was not given the salary adjustment accordingly. (C) My official status as a teacher in CSRC since 1968 to 1977. The concerned documents. (D) Letters of Yves Dupont to me dated 1977-07-30 and 1077-08-05. He requested, in addition : (a) Copies of all the annual report of my “absences” sent to CARRA from school year 68-77 and my one year as an adult education teacher at CSRC in which you are the leagal successors. (b) A copy of the letter to CARRA of the one-hundred (100) days as per the law legally in force at that time for all teachers for their absences due to strikes, etc.etc. (c) All the letters stating the status of my sick bank since school year 1968-1977. (d) The letters to CARRA that declared my employee status as a part-time or teacher by lesson, etc.etc.
00 05 08 - 3 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 (e) Copies of the minutes of Resolution #397-7677 as per Folio 175, Book 7, St-Lambert, 28 th of April 1077, as per the Education Act in force (f) Proof of all the payments made to me and the alleged absences and payment of my sick bank as per the provincial contract (Decreed Provincial Contract of 1968) in which I was under its jurisdiction and protection. N.B. If some of these vital documents are lost or missing please contact me in writing only. I have to send these documents to the N.Y., TX, N.J. and CA to decent honest persons of peerless honesty and integrity who are trying to unravel if there are illegalities, fraud, tampering of evidence, falsification of public documents, contract, breach of trust & obstruction of justice in this “case” of mine. Is there corruption in this “case”? On March 10 th the Commission d'accès received his request for a review of his application to the school board. On June 5, 2000, the Commission d'accès received the following letter from the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin which set forth the difficulties encountered by the school board in attempting to respond to Mr. Kramer’s requests : « Nous avons bien reçu la lettre du 28 mars 2000, signée par Madame Le Tourneux, transmise à l'attention de monsieur Rolland Descheneaux, secrétaire général; après recherches et échanges avec monsieur Michel Masse, conseiller en gestion du personnel, du Service des ressources humaines, il nous est physiquement difficile de lire la demande de documents formulée par monsieur Victor Kramer. En décembre 1999, à la demande orale de monsieur Kramer, monsieur Masse a produit une attestation d'emploi; vous en trouverez une copie ci-jointe. En février 2000, monsieur Kramer a d'abord transmis par télécopieur une demande de documents écrite à la main. Cette demande étant très pâle, nous lui avons demandé de transmettre sa demande par courrier ordinaire. Ce que nous avons reçu les 18 et 22 février 2000. Toutefois, il appert que cette demande reçue par courrier n'est pas plus lisible. Enfin de pouvoir tenter de répondre plus spécifiquement à la demande de monsieur Kramer, nous estimons que la réception d'une demande dactylographiée indiquant clairement les documents demandés faciliterait de beaucoup les recherches et assurerait la compréhension
00 05 08 - 4 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 des besoins de documents de monsieur Kramer. Une liste indiquant le nom de l'émetteur du document, le type de document ou sa catégorie (contrat, résolution, lettre, rapport, etc…) et la date probable de chaque document serait très utile. À tout événement, nous transmettons de nouveau à monsieur Victor Kramer une copie de l'attestation d'emploi émise le 14 décembre 1999 qui lui a déjà été remise. An English adaptation of this letter, with the additional request not to write in the borders of his letters and faxes, was sent by the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin to Mr. Kramer on August 3, 2000. DOSSIER 00 16 15 On August 24, 2000, Mr. Kramer requested the same information as he had originally identified in his correspondence of February 2000 with the school board, using photocopies of the requests made at that time. His application for review to the Commission d'accès was received by the latter on September 15, 2000. DOSSIER 00 18 25 On August 24, 2000 Mr. Kramer also requested, using photocopies of his requests of February 2000 the same documents : (A) Cost of living index adjustment for school year 1976-77, proff from Rejean Quesnel and cheque # (B) The 24 credits of graduate level studies from St. Michael's College and the University of Vermont which is one (1) year scholarity plus my studies in Concordia university which were all received by M. Caron but was not given the salary adjustment accordingly. (C) My official status as a teacher in CSRC since 1968 to 1977. The concerned documents.
00 05 08 - 5 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 (D) Letters of Yves Dupont to me dated 1977-07-30 and 1977-08-05. The Commission d’accès received his request for review on September 28, 2000. DOSSIER 00 20 68 On October 13, 2000 Mr. Kramer made another request to the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin asking that : The above request has been sidetracked and derailed accordingly. Please kindly intervene & get the above document as per revision procedures. Thanks. Sincerely. His request for review, received by the Commission d’accès on November 30, 2000 is accompanied by a copy of the reply of the school board dated November 7, 2000. The letter from the school board reads as follows : Pour faire suite à votre demande datée du 24 août 2000; nous avons identifié 12 types de documents différents. Après vérification de votre dossier, veuillez trouver ci-joints les documents suivants énumérés selon les numéros de types pré-identifiés. TYPE TITRE DESCRIPTION DATE 1 Copies of the Résolution no 397-76/77 1977 04 minutes Commission scolaire régionale de Chambly 26 Non-rengagement pour 1977-78 2 Certified copies Contrat d’engagement 1968-69 1968 07 of all contracts Résolution no 634-68 (2 pages) 09 Contrat d’engagement 1969-70 1968 07 Contrat d’engagement 1970-71 30 Contrat d’engagement 1971-72 1969 07 Contrat d’engagement 1971-72 01 Contrat d’engagement 1972-73 1970 04 Contrat d’engagement 1973-74 01 Contrat d’engagement 1975-76 1971 06 23 1971 07 01
00 05 08 - 6 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 3 Copies of all État des participations au RRE annual report of Fiche d’absences 1969-1970 my absences 4 Copy of the letter Aucun document to CARRA of the one-hundred days 5 All the letters Lettre de M. Kramer “choose to renounce stating the status the sick leave bank of 15 days” of my sick bank 6 The letters to Aucun document CARRA (part-time or teacher by lesson) TYPE TITRE DESCRIPTION 7 Proof of all the Fiche d’absences payments made Absence 1973-1974 to me and all the Lettres d’Adrien Caron établissant la alleged absences classification de la scolarité et de and payment of l’expérience my sick bank Absence 1974- 75 Lettre Adrien Caron Idem Idem Absence 1975-76 Avis de changement – paie Lettre Adrien Caron Absence 1976-77 Absences 8 Idem Idem Analyse Journal de paye 1972 06 01 1973 06 01 1975 02 28 1983 05 04 1969-1970 1969 11 11 DATE 1968-1969 1973-74 1974 09 26 1974 11 13 1974-75 1975 10 24 1976 05 04 1976 06 17 1975-76 1977 04 27 1977 05 04 1976-77 1977 04 22 1972 06 30 1973 05
00 05 08 - 7 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 Rapport mensuel de suppléances 1973-74 31 Idem 9 All my yearly Teacher appraisal 1968-69 evaluation as idem 1969-70 a certified techer idem 1970-71 Evaluative report on teaching personnel 1971-1972 (4 pages) Permis d’enseigner 1972-1973 Evaluative … 1972-1973 (4 pages) Evaluative … 1973-1974 (2 pages) Reprimand Evaluative… 1974-1975 Evaluative… 1975-1976 (3 documents) Evaluative… 1976-1977 Idem idem 10 Cost of living Lettre de M. Kamer 1973-74 index adjustement Aucun document 1976-77 11 The 24 credits The American Chamber of Commerce of graduate level of the Philippines inc. studies Ateneo de Manila Note de M. Kramer 12 My official status as a Statistiques Personnel (2 pages) teacher Statistiques Personnel (2 pages) Statistiques Personnel (2 pages) Relevé d’emploi (assurance-chômage) 1976-77 J’ajoute également une copie de votre déclaration indiquant que vous avez pris connaissance de votre dossier officiel. Non-daté.1972-73 1973 10 02 1973 11 07 1969 04 21 1970 03 20 1971 05 04 1972 05 01 1972 05 10 1973 05 22 1974 04 22 1974 10 01 1975 05 28 1976 07 06 1977 01 13 1977 04 01 1974 11 17 1965 07 12 1967 11 04 1978 04 04 1973 09 30 1975 09 30 1976 09 30 1977 06 30
00 05 08 - 8 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 Tel qu’il appert de votre lettre du 7 novembre 1968, écrite en français, nous vous transmettons la présente en français seulement car c’est la langue normale de l’administration scolaire et de plus je ne suis pas bilingue et nous ne désirons pas retarder l’envoi des documents. Si vous n’êtes pas d’accord avec notre décision relative aux copies des documents transmis, vous pourrez demander à la Commission d’accès à l’information d’intervenir dans ce dossier. Vous avez trente (30) jours pour procéder à une telle demande de révision de décision à compter de la réception des documents transmis ce jour. Mr. Kramer noted in the margin of the copy of this letter of November 7, 2000 sent to the Secretariat of the Commission d’accès : They have not sent the very specific documents as per my request. Their excuse is transparent, crude & flimsy. They could have called me by phone & a friend could have translated for me. These copies are not certified either. It appears some have been invented & others missing. This is tantamount to obstruction. THE HEARING A hearing was scheduled for May 18, 2001 at the offices of the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec in Montreal to hear all these files together. THE POSITION OF THE APPLICANT At the hearing Mr. Kramer expressed his great mistrust of the school board and its representatives, whom he felt were withholding information from him and who, he believed, had falsified documents in the past. He stated several times, in various ways, that his objective was to shed light on the circumstances of his termination from the Commission scolaire régionale de Chambly in l977. He had difficulty in
00 05 08 - 9 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 believing in the authenticity of the documents sent to him by the school board because they were not certified. He felt much information was missing, particularly the verbatim of discussions preceding the adoption of the resolution to dismiss him from the school board as well as an attestation of 100 days of sick leave which he understood had been granted to every teacher. Specifically referring to the school board’s letter of Nov 7, 2000 and the documentation which had already been sent to him, Mr. Kramer made the following objections : - he felt that the minutes of the meeting where the decision not to hire him back for the coming school year was made were missing. He lacked information on how this decision was made. - he was of the opinion that his yearly evaluations were incomplete, especially as a probationary teacher and that his record of absences was inaccurate. Moreover, documents pertaining to his service record were not certified. - he reiterated his request for the following information : (A) Cost of living index adjustment for school year 1976-77, proff from Rejean Quesnel and cheque # (B) The 24 credits of graduate level studies from St. Michael's College and the University of Vermont which is one (1) year scholarity plus my studies in Concordia university which were all received by M. Caron but was not given the salary adjustment accordingly. (C) My official status as a teacher in CSRC since 1968 to 1977. The concerned documents. (D) Letters of Yves Dupont to me dated 1977-07-30 and 1077-08-05.
00 05 08 - 10 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 - he referred to his letter of February 2000 to the school board requesting the series of documents enumerated under the letters (a) to (f) concerning his absences, sick bank and related payments and stated that he had never received the actual documents. - finally he wished to receive the resolution authorizing his dismissal. THE POSITION OF THE RESPONDENT The Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin stated, in response to Mr. Kramer, that it felt that it had sent all the documents in its possession and replied to the best extent possible to the various requests for documentation. A complete copy of the school board's letter of November 7, 2000 and all the attached documents, already sent to Mr Kramer, were deposited in proof. They will be referred to as D-1 in folio. Counsel for the respondent pointed out that this letter of November 7, 2000 resumed by type of document the various requests of Mr. Kramer and grouped, according to subject, the different documents in the possession of the school board. M. Michel Masse, human resources adviser to the school board, attended the hearing. Counsel for the school board invited the applicant Kramer to go through the original files which were brought to the hearing and placed at his disposal. However, Mr. Kramer declined this offer, saying that because of his past experiences he did not trust the school board. M. Robert Lemieux, Secrétaire-général associé of the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin testified as to several aspects of the conservation of school board
00 05 08 - 11 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 records. This testimony clarified the limits of the information available at the present time. First of all, he underlined the fact that several francophone school boards had been amalgamated since July lst, l998 to form the new school board, Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin. Among the boards which no longer existed was the Chambly school board. This could account, M. Lemieux suggested, for any limits in the documentation existing. M. Lemieux further testified that documentation describing the reasons for the non-re-engagement of Mr. Kramer did not exist. He testified that only the decision was recorded. He thought that since then, sometime in the l980’s, the practice had changed to include the reasons motivating the decision. In attempting to provide Mr. Kramer with the documents he desired, M. Lemieux had had examined all the employment contracts for the years in question, because at that time contracts were given for each year to reflect the school board resolutions authorizing them. He also explained, concerning the compilation of credits for sick leave, that at the time of Mr. Kramer’s employment a different system from the one used now prevailed. At the time the record of absences was compiled at the school, signed by the director and was to be placed in the individual’s file. Only in the years l982-83 did the school board do a summary to send to the Commission administrative des régimes de retraite et d'assurances (CARRA). M. Lemieux testified that the 100 days of sick leave for which Mr. Kramer sought documentation did not correspond to any separate document in the possession of
00 05 08 - 12 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 the school board. Nor indeed had he found anything which referred to a 100 days sick leave. Furthermore, in examining the list of the documents archived, he did not see any résumés of the state of sick leave banks for individuals. The only documents found concerning his use of sick leave credits were included in the series of documents D-1 already sent to Mr. Kramer on November 7, 2000.The only document referring to a sick leave bank is Mr. Kramer’s own letter to the Chambly school board dated November 11, l969, in which he states that he chooses “…to renounce the sick leave bank of 15 days.” No document of correspondence with the CARRA concerning Mr. Kramer was found. However, M. Lemieux underlined the fact that in the documents already remitted to Mr. Kramer, there were some thirteen different letters or notes referring to absences, to salary or other pay related matters. These are grouped under the number seven in the documents sent on November 7, 2000. Referring to Mr. Kramer’s request for ”… all his service records from l968-69 to l976-77…” M. Lemieux testified that, according to his understanding, the service record or état de service was compiled by the CARRA. There is not an annual service record compiled by the employer. At the time of Mr. Kramer’s employment, the journal de paye constituted the proof of payment at the board level before this information was eventually sent to the CARRA. M. Lemieux referred to the paragraph numbered 3 in the letter of November 7, 2000. After l983, the record of presences and absences for pension purposes was calculated by the CARRA. Concerning Mr. Kramer’s request for a copy of all his yearly evaluations, M. Lemieux testified that as teacher in the employ of the school board, Mr. Kramer should normally have already learned of his performance evaluations. However, the
00 05 08 - 13 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 respondent had sent him a copy of all the evaluations in its possession, some 25 pages of documentation, which it grouped under the paragraph numbered 9 in the letter of November 7, 2000. As regards Mr. Kramer’s request for information concerning the cost-of-living adjustments and credits for graduate level studies, M. Lemieux referred to paragraphs numbered 10 and 11 in the letter of November 7, 2000 and the attached documentation as representing all that was in the school board’s possession relating to those subjects. As for documents proving his official status as a teacher, M. Lemieux explained that every year on September 30, the school board compiled a report on each of its employees which was complementary to the salary information compiled otherwise. Different documents, all of which related to his status as a teacher with the Chambly school board, were grouped together under the paragraph numbered 9 in exhibit D-1. M. Lemieux further testified that a circular letter was found in the files but it was not included in the documents sent to Mr. Kramer. Copies of documents, identified as exhibit O-3 in folio were also deposited in proof as documents which had already been made available to Mr. Kramer and which concerned his employment at the Chambly school board and his qualifications as a teacher. THE UNDERTAKING BY THE RESPONDENT In cross-examination of the witness, Mr. Kramer expressed his doubts as to the authenticity of the documents he had received. He was particularly perplexed by the absence of reasons given for the school board’s decision not to continue to employ
00 05 08 - 14 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 him, given his understanding of articles 179 and 182 of the Education Act 1 which he referred to : 179. The council of commissioners shall establish an executive committee composed of from five to seven of its members entitled to vote, including the chairman of the school board, and of any commissioner representing the parents'committee. The council of commissioners shall determine the term of office of the members of the executive committee. The seat of a member of the executive committee who is entitled to vote becomes vacant in the same cases as those provided for commissioners elected under the Act respecting school elections (chapter E-2.3). The vacancy is then filled following the procedure provided for the designation of a commissioner, but only for the unexpired portion of the term. 182. Sections 154 to 166, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 175.4 to 177.2, adapted as required, apply to the executive committee. In order to assuage Mr. Kramer’s concerns about the validity of the documents and to alleviate his concern about any possible falsification or tampering with them, counsel for the respondent undertook to send the Commission d'accès, within ten days of the hearing, authentified copies of all the documents made available to him in response to his various requests. The respondent also undertook to review the documentation in the archives of the Chambly school board to see if there was not any other documents, hitherto unidentified, pertaining to Mr. Kramer, and to send them to him if such were found. THE DOCUMENTS SENT BY THE COMMISSION SCOLAIRE MARIE-VICTORIN On May 28, 2000 the Commission d’accès à l’information received at its Montreal offices a letter from the respondent school board’s counsel, enclosing what it states are two authentified copies of documents already given in the context of the present request for access. For the benefit of the applicant, the following is an 1 R.S.Q., c. I-13.3.
00 05 08 - 15 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 English language version of the paragraphs of this letter, originally written in French, which the Commission d'accès judges are most relevant to his request : In consequence of the hearing held in the above-mentioned files, the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin has made certain undertakings. This letter constitutes the fulfillment of these undertakings. Concerning Mr. Kramer You will find enclosed two copies of the ninety-two pages of the documents already supplied but this time duly authentified by Mr. Robert Lemieux. To demonstrate the basis for this authentification we enclose Regulation no. 15-98 of the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin concerning the authentification of documents. Enclosed is an original copy of Resolution397-76/77 duly authentified. Concerning the reasons for not rehiring Mr. Kramer, we do not possess any documents in support of the minutes which describe these reasons; however, in Mr. Kramer’s file we find the labour arbitration decision which gives the reasons advanced for not rehiring him. As far as Mr. Kramer’s absences are concerned, Mr. Lemieux could not find any other document concerning the former in the 39 boxes of archival material which he checked. You will find enclosed two series of documents, one for the Commission d’accès à l’information and the other for Mr. Kramer. We understand that you will forward the latter to Mr. Kramer. The Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin also included the supporting document which showed the legal basis on which it issued authentic documents for Mr. Kramer : the school by-law no. 15-98 concerning the authentification of documents. It also included authentified copies of the minutes of the meeting of the Chambly school board on April 26, l977 containing resolution 397 76 / 77, the labour arbitration decisions nos. 0021-01-07 and 0022-01-07 of l979 concerning Mr. Kramer’s case as well as an original of the resolution 397 – 76/77 signed by the Secretary-general of the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin, successor to the
00 05 08 - 16 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 Commission scolaire Jacques-Cartier, itself successor to the Commission scolaire régionale de Chambly. DECISION Mr. Kramer believes he has been wrongfully treated by the respondent school board in the aftermath of their decision not to rehire him in l977. In his search for justice, he wishes to obtain all the documentation necessary to support his claims. Having heard the parties at length and examined all the documents furnished by the respondent and which are joined with the present decision, I am satisfied that the school board has acceded to his numerous requests to the greatest extent possible for the following reasons. First of all it has demonstrated, through the testimony of M. Lemieux, associate secretary-general that it has brought together all documents which have a bearing on his requests. Secondly, where documents were not available in the exact form identified by Mr. Kramer, M. Lemieux has testified as to the historical and administrative reasons for this and has referred to the documents which most closely approximate those requested. Thirdly, the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin has undertaken a complete search of its archives and has not identified additional documents. Fourthly, it has had authentified, to allay Mr. Kramer’s misgivings, each and every page of the documents identified as D-1 in folio.
00 05 08 - 17 -00 16 15 00 18 25 00 20 68 FOR THE ABOVE REASONS, the Commission d'accès : Having examined the documents furnished by the school board and having heard both parties : GRANTS, in part, the application for review, TAKES note of the documents released by the respondent Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin, DENIES, for the remainder, the application for review. Montreal, September 11, 2001 JENNIFER STODDART Commissioner M e Gilles Paquette Attorney of Respondent
You are being directed to the most recent version of the statute which may not be the version considered at the time of the judgment.