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2003 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 37th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational

purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

The following electronic version is for informational

purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE SANDY SANTORI

MINISTER OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES

BILL 13 – 2003

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY AMENDMENT ACT, 2003

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Section 3 (1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of

Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 165, is amended

(

a) by repealing paragraph (

f) and substituting the following:

(

f) material placed in the archives of the government

of British Columbia by or for a person or agency other than a public body;

, and

(

b) in paragraph (

g) by striking out "the public body;"

and substituting "a public body;" .

Section 21 (3) (

b) is amended by striking out "the British

Columbia Archives and Records Service" and substituting "the archives

of the government of British Columbia" .

Section 27 (1) is amended

(

a) by striking out "A public body must collect personal information"

and substituting "A public body must collect personal information or

cause personal information to be collected" , and

(

b) in paragraph (a.1) by striking out "the public body is not

able" and substituting "it is not possible" .

Section 27 (2) is amended by striking out "A public

body must tell an individual from whom it collects personal information"

and substituting "A public body must ensure that an individual from

whom it collects personal information or causes personal information to be collected

is told" .

Section 27 (3) is amended by striking out "or"

at the end of paragraph (a), by adding ", or" at the end of paragraph

(

b) and by adding the following:

(

c) the information

(

i) is not required, under subsection (1), to be collected directly from the individual the information is about, and

(ii) is not collected directly from the individual the information is about.

Section 28 is repealed and the following substituted:

Accuracy of personal information

28 If

(

a) an individual's personal information is in the custody or under the control of a public body, and

(

b) the personal information will be used by or on behalf of the public body to make a decision that directly affects the individual,

the public body must make every reasonable effort to ensure that the personal information is accurate and complete.

Section 30 is amended by adding "in the custody or under

the control of the public body" after "personal information" .

Section 31 is repealed and the following substituted:

Retention of personal information

31 If an individual's personal information

(

a) is in the custody or under the control of a public body, and

(

b) is used by or on behalf of the public body to make a decision that directly affects the individual,

the public body must ensure that the personal information is retained for at least one year after being used so that the affected individual has a reasonable opportunity to obtain access to that personal information.

Section 32 is amended by striking out "A public body

may use personal information" and substituting "A public body

must ensure that personal information in its custody or under its control is

used" .

Section 33 is amended

(

a) by striking out "A public body may disclose personal information"

and substituting "A public body must ensure that personal information

in its custody or under its control is disclosed" , and

(

b) by repealing paragraph (

m) and substituting the following:

(

m) to the archives of the government of British Columbia

or the archives of a public body, for archival purposes, .

Section 34 (1) (

b) is amended by striking out "discloses

the information." and substituting "discloses the information

or causes the information to be used or disclosed."

Section 35 is amended

(

a) by adding "or may cause personal information in its custody

or under its control to be disclosed" after "disclose personal

information" , and

(

b) by adding the following paragraph:

(a.1) the information is disclosed on condition that

it not be used for the purpose of contacting a person to participate in the

research, .

Section 36 is amended by striking out "The British

Columbia Archives and Record Service, or the archives of a public body, may

disclose personal information" and substituting "The archives

of the government of British Columbia, or the archives of a public body, may

disclose personal information or cause personal information in its custody or

under its control to be disclosed" .

Section 41 (4) is repealed and the following substituted:

(4) The commissioner may make a special report to the Legislative Assembly if, in the commissioner's opinion,

(

a) the amounts and establishment provided for the office of commissioner in the estimates, or

(

b) the services provided by the Public Service Employee Relations Commission

are inadequate for fulfilling the duties of the office.

Section 44 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(2.1) If a person discloses a record that is subject to solicitor client privilege to the commissioner at the request of the commissioner, or under subsection (1) or (2), the solicitor client privilege of the record is not affected by the disclosure.

Section 49 (1) is repealed and the following substituted:

(1) Subject to this section, the commissioner may delegate to any person any duty, power or function of the commissioner under this Act, other than the power to delegate under this section.

(1.1) The commissioner may not delegate the power to examine information referred to in

section 15 if the head of a police force or the Attorney General

(

a) has refused to disclose that information under

section 15, and

(

b) has requested the commissioner not to delegate the power to examine that information.

(1.2) Subsection (1.1) does not apply if a delegate of the head of the police force or a delegate of the Attorney General makes the request referred to in paragraph (

b) of that subsection.

Section 60 (1) is amended by striking out "and"

at the end of paragraph (

a) and by repealing paragraph (

b) and substituting

the following:

(

b) to determine, if requested under

section 60.1, whether the commissioner as head of a public body is authorized to disregard a request made under

section 5 or 29, and

(

c) to review, if requested under

section 62, any decision, act or failure to act of the commissioner as head of a public body.

18 The following

section is added:

Disregard of request under

section 5 or 29

60.1 The commissioner may request an adjudicator designated under

section 60 to authorize the commissioner as head of a public body to disregard requests made under

section 5 or 29 that

(

a) would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the public body because of the repetitious or systematic nature of the requests, or

(

b) are frivolous or vexatious.

Schedule 1 is amended

(

a) in the definition of "educational body" by repealing paragraph

(b), and

(

b) in the definition of "local government body" by striking

out "or" at the end of paragraph (o), by adding ", or"

at the end of paragraph (

p) and by adding the following paragraph:

(

q) the Park Board referred to in

section 485 of the

Vancouver Charter ; .

Commencement

20 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 3 (1) (

f) and (g)] modifies the reference to government archives

so that no specific government branch or agency is referenced and allows records

deposited by one public body into the archives of another public body to remain

within the scope of the Act.

SECTION 2: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 21 (3) (b)] modifies the reference to government archives so

that no specific government branch or agency is referenced.

SECTION 3: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 27 (1)] clarifies that a public body must cause personal information

that is collected for the public body to be collected in accordance with the

section.

SECTION 4: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 27 (2)] provides that when a public body collects personal information

from an individual, it must ensure that the individual is told the information

required by the section.

SECTION 5: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, adds

section 27 (3) (c)] clarifies that the notification requirement in

section

27 (2) of the Act does not apply where indirect collection is permitted under

the Act.

SECTION 6: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, re-enacts

section 28] provides that the

section applies where personal information

is in the custody or under the control of a public body.

SECTION 7: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 30] provides that the obligation of a public body to protect

personal information applies to information in the custody or under the control

of the public body.

SECTION 8: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, re-enacts

section 31] clarifies that the obligation of a public body to

retain personal information for a year applies where the information is in the

custody or under the control of the public body and the decision is made by

or on behalf of the public body.

SECTION 9: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 32] clarifies that a public body's obligations under the

section

apply to information in the custody or under the control of the public body.

SECTION 10: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 33] clarifies that the disclosure of personal information by

or on behalf of a public body is limited and modifies the reference to the archives

of the government of British Columbia.

SECTION 11: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 34 (1) (b)] provides that the

section applies to a public body

if the public body causes the personal information to be used or disclosed for

purposes referred to in paragraph (

b) of the section.

SECTION 12: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 35] permits a public body to cause personal information in its

custody or under its control to be disclosed for the specified purposes and

prohibits researchers from collecting personal information from a public body

for the sole purpose of contacting prospective research subjects.

SECTION 13: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 36] modifies the reference to government archives so that no

specific government branch or agency is referenced and clarifies that this

section

applies to a public body if the public body causes personal information to be

disclosed.

SECTION 14: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, repeals

and replaces

section 41 (4)] corrects an error.

SECTION 15: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, adds

section 44 (2.1)] ensures that solicitor client privilege of a record

is not waived as a result of the examination of the record under this Act by

the commissioner's office.

SECTION 16: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, repeals

and replaces

section 49 (1) and adds subsections (1.1) and (1.2)] allows

an expansion of the commissioner's delegation powers while protecting sensitive

law enforcement records.

SECTION 17: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

section 60 (1)] authorizes an adjudicator to receive the commissioner's

requests under

section 60.1 of the Act.

SECTION 18: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, enacts

section 60.1] permits the commissioner to request authorization from

an adjudicator for relief from repetitious, vexatious, systematic or frivolous

requests that the commissioner has received as head of a public body.

SECTION 19: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, amends

Schedule 1] modifies the definition of "educational body" to remove

the reference to the University of Northern British Columbia which is now subject

to the Act as a university under the University Act , and modifies

the definition of "local government body" to include the Vancouver Park Board.

Copyright (c) 2003: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada