Final Report of the Select Special Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Review Committee

Report of the Select Special Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Review Committee

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

In March 1998, a News Release was issued on behalf of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta announcing the all-party review of the FOIP Act. Information about the review process, including a schedule, was provided to make Albertans aware that the review was about to get under way.

In April 1998, a Discussion Guide was circulated to help Albertans contribute to the review process. The Guide was posted on the Internet homepage of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and information on how to obtain copies of it appeared in advertisements in Alberta daily and weekly newspapers. Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta were asked to encourage their constituents to participate in the process and provide feedback to the Committee.

The Discussion Guide was distributed to more than 3,000 individuals, public bodies and other organizations. Over 120 submissions were received by the Committee, including:

Number:

From:

56

Local Public Body Sectors:

16 Municipal Government Sector
11 School Sector
12 Post-Secondary Educational Sector
9 Health Care Sector
5 Public Libraries Sector
2 Police Services Sector
1 Housing Management Body Sector

15

General Public

14

Special interest groups representing 15 organizations

12

Self-Governing Professional Associations

9

Commercial/Private Sector

4

Provincial Elected Officials

4

Provincial Government Sector

3

Media

3

Labour Unions

1

Government of Alberta (Labour)

1

Information and Privacy Commissioner

The Committee also corresponded with self-governing professional associations to seek their views on how their organizations could best comply with the principles of fair information practices and 18 responses were received.

A list of individuals and organizations that provided written submissions to the Committee is presented in Appendix A.

In addition to receiving written submissions, the Committee also requested presentations from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Alberta Labour, Alberta Justice, Alberta Registries and others.

The Committee conducted a comprehensive analysis of the issues raised and formulated a number of recommendations which were included in a preliminary report issued December 21, 1998 for public comment. The preliminary report also included a number of issues the Committee had considered and determined that no action should be taken on or the matter was beyond the scope of the Committee's mandate.

Copies of the preliminary report were mailed to all individuals and groups who made written submissions to the Committee and additional copies were made available to the public through the Office of the Legislative Assembly and on the Internet homepage of the Legislative Assembly.

Approximately 50 submissions responding to the preliminary report were received by the Committee, including:

Number:

From:

18

Local Public Body Sectors:

6 Municipal Government Sector
3 School Sector
7 Post-Secondary Educational Sector
2 Health Care Sector

11

Commercial/Private Sector

6

Provincial Elected Officials

5

Self-Governing Professional Associations

3

General Public

3

Special interest groups representing 3 organizations

2

Media

1

Provincial Government Sector

1

Information and Privacy Commissioner

A list of individuals and organizations that provided written submissions to the Committee in response to the preliminary report is presented in Appendix B.

Responses to the preliminary report were considered by the Committee. This report incorporates the final recommendations of the Select Special Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Review Committee and concludes the mandated requirements of the review of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act pursuant to section 91 of the Act.