Unfortunately, I do not have jurisdiction over those documents and they are excluded from the Access to Information Act at present. All my office receives is a confirmation by the institution that certain pages requested are covered by that exclusion.
In the past, I have recommended an independent review mechanism and that my office be authorized at least to see these excluded documents, to be able to confirm that they are actually cabinet confidences. This kind of situation arises, as in the case of certain documents denied on the ground that they are covered by solicitor-client privilege under section 23 of the act. When we review those documents, we can confirm that they do not involve a legal opinion.
In the case of cabinet confidences, I would like to be able to make sure that this exemption is being applied genuinely.