(NOTE: This electronic version of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner's Annual Report 1996-97 includes corrections for clerical errors that exist in the printed copy.)

XIV Towards the Future

The Four-Year Legislative Review of the
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

Section 79 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act states that a Special Committee of the Legislative Assembly must begin a review of the Act within four years after it becomes effective. Since the Act became effective in October of 1993, the Legislature should appoint such a Committee by October of 1997. Section 79 also sets out that the Committee must submit a report of its review to the Legislative Assembly one year after the commencement of the review, and that the report must include any amendments to the Act that the Committee recommends.

Once the Committee is appointed, the Commissioner's Office anticipates that it will have the opportunity to make submissions to the Committee on a variety of specific access to information and protection of privacy issues. Generally-speaking, however, the Office considers the Act to be an excellent piece of law-making that functions well in practice.

The Office's main concern is to see that the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act remains a strong and vibrant statement of information and privacy rights. The Office intends to remain vigilant to ensure the protection of these democratic and human rights. It has worked with government offices this year to learn of, and address, specific areas of concern in the Act and to suggest options for its more efficient implementation in government policy and practices. The Office is pleased that the government has postponed any major statutory changes to the Act until the Legislative Committee has had a chance to conduct its review and make recommendations. The Office considers the formal process of statutory legislative review laudable in that it will provide ample opportunity for proponents of open government who have an interest in the Act to make representations. The Office urges all interested parties to make full use of the process.

Private Sector Data Protection

The Office continues to urge the provincial government to extend data protection to the provincially-regulated private sector. Over 2,200 public bodies currently are covered by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in British Columbia, yet a significant portion of complaints and enquiries to the Commissioner's Office pertain to issues related to the private sector. At present, these issues are outside the Office's jurisdiction.

The Office supports the voluntary privacy codes that are currently in place for the private sector, such as the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information and the Canadian Bankers Association's Privacy Model Code. However, the Office believes that privacy protection in the private sector should have the force of law in British Columbia, since it is only by implementation of legal protections that British Columbians may be guaranteed their human rights. The province also would then have similar privacy protection laws to those of its trading partners in Europe and around the industrial world, including New Zealand and Hong Kong.

The federal government has already taken steps to move forward on this issue. Justice Minister Alan Rock promised in the Fall of 1996 that the government would enact legislation for the federally-regulated private sector by the year 2000. Currently, the government is coordinating efforts among Industry Canada, the Department of Justice, and the provinces to address the complex aspects of legislating in a federal system.

The Office applauds the federal government's efforts and encourages the provincial government to move forward also in implementing data protection for the provincially-regulated private sector in British Columbia. In the interim, the Office urges businesses in B.C. that collect and process personal information to adopt the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information and to use it to ensure fair information practices within their organizations.

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