THE STRAIGHT GOODS ON YOUR INFORMATION RIGHTS !

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Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy
Policy and Procedures Manual

British Columbia's Information, Science and Technology Agency
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy -
Home of the Chief Information Officer.

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
for British Columbia

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DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
REQUEST FORM

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
COMPLAINT FORM

PERSONAL INFORMATION
CORRECTION FORM

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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT

Chair: Rick Kasper
E-mail: rick_kasper@bc.sympatico.ca

Vice Chair: John Weisbeck

E-mail: Craig James, Committee Clerk ClerkComm@lass.gov.bc.ca

Meetings of Committee

Committee Membership

A Special Committee of the BC Legislature has been struck to conduct
a review of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
This review represents both the biggest threat to the Act - and the
best opportunity to improve it - since it was proclaimed in 1993.

During the review, there will be a concerted call by public bodies to weaken the
FOIPP Act, while freedom of information and protection of privacy supporters will
press the Committee to strengthen and expand the Act. The Committee's final
recommendations will have a huge impact on the rights and interests of stakeholders.

All groups and individuals who have an interest in freedom of
information and protection of privacy should make a special effort
to contibute to the campaign to defend and improve the FOIPP Act.

For more information:

email to CompoNet

Via Mail To: PO Box 54237 Lonsdale West Postal Outlet
North Vancouver B.C. V7M 3L5
Via Fax:(604) 990-1101

or contact

Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
at # 103 - 2092 W. 2nd Ave, Vancouver, BC V6J 1J4
ph. 739-9788 or fax 739-9148

B.C. Journalists for Freedom of Information
Steve Carlman at 604-688-9622 or Jeff Lee at 604-732-2197.

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WHAT DID THEY SAY THE AVERAGE
DISCLOSURE TIME WAS !!!



Still No Response From the Information and Privacy Commissioner's Office

Following the February 3 1997 response from the Information and Privacy Commissioner's Office defending the WCB's disclosure practices,
clarification was sought from the government body responsible for the legislation's interpretation, policy, and procedures, British Columbia's
Information, Science and Technology Agency, and it was confirmed that the WCB continues to defy FOI Legislation and in fact has been informed
accordingly by the BCISTA. A reply to the Information and Privacy Commissioner's Office was made in this regard February 20 1997,
and keeping in mind this complaint and request for review was filed in October 1996, to date there has been no resolution,
24 months, and counting.

IS THE WCB PROVIDING FAIR, OPEN, AND LEGAL ACCESS TO INFORMATION ?

IS THE OFFICE OF THE INFORMATION AND PRIVACY COMMISSIONER
ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH THE ACT ?

A LITTLE INSIGHT INTO THOSE QUESTIONS


Confirmed !

October 16, 1997, Information and Privacy Commissioner, David Flaherty, personally confirmed, in writing, his endorsement of the Workers' Compensation Boards information and privacy practices.

Commissioner Flaherty confirms his personal knowledge of the facts, his agreement with his portfolio officers position, and further confirms he has "carefully reviewed the investigation file".

Commissioner Flaherty extends his endorsement of Board practices despite both written and verbal admissions by the WCB indicating ongoing violations of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, as well as their own information handling policies and procedures, providing the Board with an avenue to effectively circumvent legal disclosure and FOI legislation.

Commissioner Flaherty's action in arbitrarily closing the investigation file, denying the applicant the right of response, further condones and promotes the Boards practices, including specifically, the main concern of this investigation, being that of the Boards practice of arbitrarily refusing formal, written, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Requests for claim file information, and re-classifying the formal request as a normal course of business request and providing disclosure under normal course of business procedures in direct contravention of FOI Legislation, and direct defiance of the Government Freedom of Information Policy and Procedures Manual, C.1 INTRODUCTION - ACCESSING GOVERNMENT RECORDS - provided by the OIPC in the course of this investigation which states:

"Public bodies may also, without specific legislative authority, identify categories of records containing personal information that are available, without a formal FOI request, only to the individual the information is about. Only categories of information that do not require review and severing are released without a formal FOI request."

"In the absence of express legislative authority, public bodies do not charge applicants fees for access to their own personal information. Because subsection 2(2) of the Act does not limit an individual's right of access to his or her own personal information, a policy without authorization in an enactment of releasing personal information through an existing channel to the individual concerned does not prejudice the individual's right to make a formal FOI request for the information. Subsection 75(3) provides that fees may not be charged for access to the applicant's own personal information."

It is important to note that this decision confirms that this endorsement is in fact Commissioner Flaherty and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioners official position.