It was the work of the Abbotsford district office, Farm Economics Branch, of the Ministry of Agriculture. It was also not a scientific survey in that it was not directed to a formal sample of potential respondents. Thus some of the measures relating to the selection of a sample and documenting informed consent, that one would expect in a professional survey, were not followed. According to a surviving form letter submitted to this inquiry by the Ministry, a particular regional farm economist sought assistance from various informants about names of farm managers who rented farm property anywhere in British Columbia. The purpose was a survey of existing lease agreements in order to understand their increased popularity due to the substantial financial benefits from renting.
All personal information is strictly confidential.
The sample survey form does not include a written statement about confidentiality, such as one would expect in a professional exercise, but I am satisfied from the last statement cited above that the intention of those collecting the personal information was to keep it confidential. This is a very significant consideration for me in reaching the conclusion expressed below in the Order, as is the fact that individual participation was voluntary and not mandatory. However, the introduction to the booklet makes no reference to the survey or to the data obtained from the survey responses. The problem with this point is that the applicant sought access to full copies of the completed survey forms of the Agricultural Rental Survey. My inquiry can only deal with the original request that was denied, not subsequent requests or various versions of requests that were subsequently contemplated.