Bill 213 — The Right To Information Act (Legislature 18, Session 2)

L18 S2 5674

Alberta — Bills

1976 B~ll 213 Second Session, 18th Legislature, 25 Elizabeth II THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA BILL 213 THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT MR. NOTLEY First Reading ............................. . Second Reading ............................ . Third Reading ..... . ...................... . Printed by tbe Queen's Printer for the Province of Alberta, EDMONTON

Bill 213 Mr. Notley BILL 213 1976 THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT (Assented to , 1976) HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows: 1.

In this Act, (a) "public business" includes any activity or operation carried on or performed in Alberta or elsewhere by the government of Alberta, by any department, branch, board, commission or agency of that gov ernment, by any court or other tribunal of Alberta, or by any other body or authority performing a function of the government of Alberta; and (b) "record" indicates the whole or any part of any book, document, paper, card, tape or other thing on or in which information is written, recorded, stored or reproduced and, where any record does not convey the information contained in the record by reason of its having been kept in a form that requires explanation, includes a transcript of the explanation of the record. 2.

Any person who resides in Alberta may apply to the government for a record made in the course of public business and the government shall, within a reasonable time thereafter, provide a copy of such record to any person who so applies or make such record available for inspection by him.

Section 2 shall not apply to any record or part thereof (

a) where any statutory or other law provides that such record or part thereof shall not be made public; (

b) made in the course of an investigation or inquiry in the administration of the law or in the course of obtaining or giving legal advice or in contempla tion of a legal proceeding;

(

c) where the information on record is elsewhere pro vided or available or, in the discretion of any public official, may be made available under any statutory or other law, except where such public official has declined to make it available; (

d) where the information on record is so trivial in public interest that the cost to provide or to make the record available is not in the public interest; (

e) where the application therefor is made for a frivo lous 'Or vexatious purpose; (

f) where the information on record is of a confidential nature exchanged by public officials within the government or between public 'Officials of the gov ernment and any other government and is expressed to be confidential; or (

g) where the information on record relates to the private affairs of any person or organization and, upon a balance of convenience between private and public interest, it is not in the public interest to provide or to make the record available. 4.

(1) Any person entitled under

section 2 who applies to the government for a record of public business and is denied in writing or, within a reasonable time after ap plication made, is not provided with a copy of such record or has not had such record made available to him for inspection, may apply to a judge of the Supreme Court of Alberta for an order that the government comply with the application and the judge shall so order.

(2) An order made under this

section shall be served upon the government by mailing a copy of the order to the Deputy Minister of the Executive Council at his office by registered letter.

(3) If, within 14 clear days after the order is so mailed, the government files with the court a reply that the record is privileged under

section 3, together with particulars in support thereof, proceedings upon the order shall thereby be stayed.

(4) The judge shall examine and consider the reply and the statement of particulars and shall thereafter affirm or vacate the order made under subsection (1) or amend or vary the terms thereof as he deems best in the public interest. 5.

(1) The government may, in any case where privilege is claimed under paragraph (

g) of

section 3, file the state ment of particulars in support of such claim of privilege with the reply but separately in a sealed envelope. 2

(2) The judge shall peruse the statement of particulars and may order it to be resealed or to be communicated to the person who applied for the order or to be otherwise dealt with as he sees fit. 6. No appeal lies from any order made under this Act and no costs or disbursements are allowable or fees payable on the proceedings. 7. Upon an application made under

section 2, the gov ernment shall appoint a member or other official of the government to represent and to be responsible for and in behalf of the government in all proceedings upon the appli cation; and the person so appointed shall sign any denial of such application or any reply of privilege. 8.

(1) Every person who violates or fails to comply with any provision of this Act or any order made by a judge pursuant to this Act is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not ex ceeding five years.

(2) Any proceeding under this

section may be instituted at any time within six months after the time when the subject matter of the proceeding arose. 9. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to abrogate, abridge or infringe any of the privileges, immunities and powers held, enjoyed and exercised by a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 10. This Act shall come into force on the day upon which it is assented to. 3 Title: 1976 (18th, 2nd) Bill 213, The Right to Information Act

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Bills
Citation	L18 S2 5674
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	L18 S2 5674
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	9fc8e93ba2d602c33e1c03a130fec587fce3b2a9

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