House of Assembly Passes Amendments to Access to Information Legislation

Important amendments to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPPA) passed in the House of Assembly early today.

“Bill 29 includes many positive changes to our province’s access to information legislation,” said the Honourable Felix Collins, Minister of Justice and Attorney General. “For example, the fee schedule will be amended to extend the free processing time for access requests from two hours to four hours, before the hourly fee rate begins, while the $5.00 application fee to initiate an ATIPP request has been maintained. This will certainly enhance access to information for citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador as many straightforward, reasonable requests can be responded to within this timeframe.”

As well, the existing ability under the current Access to Information Regulations to waive the payment of fees in certain circumstances will continue. These fees may be waived if the head of a public body is satisfied that the payment would impose an unreasonable financial hardship on the applicant or if the request for access relates to the applicant’s own personal information.

Throughout debate in the House of Assembly on the amendments, a number of inaccurate statements were made by members of the Official Opposition and the Third Party. In particular, Opposition members incorrectly stated that these amendments further restrict access to Cabinet records. Cabinet material has always been protected from disclosure under ATIPPA – a practice that is common to other jurisdictions. Some information has to remain in the privy of Cabinet for the proper administration of government. This is a well-respected principle underpinning access to information legislation across the country.

Amendments to ATIPPA will also provide public bodies the ability to disregard frivolous and vexatious requests. These are requests which have no purpose or are highly repetitious. As one example, the Provincial Government has received over 80 requests from one applicant which had little focus on information requested; these 80 requests were then followed by a request from the same applicant for a list of all requests he/she had made to government. Other requests have been for the cost of bottled water for departments over a series of years only to have those requests abandoned by the applicant after the information was compiled.

Before a public body refuses an application because it is frivolous or vexatious, it must notify the applicant that the request is refused and provide a reason for such a refusal. The applicant then has the right to appeal that decision with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner or the court. This legislation secures this right of appeal for the applicant.

“This Provincial Government was the first to proclaim ATIPPA and now, after a required statutory review with extensive opportunity provided for input by the general public and interested parties, these changes reflect elements of similar legislation across the country,” said Minister Collins, “It was also this government that reopened the doors of the House of Assembly to the Auditor General, recognizing the important role this office plays in ensuring accountability. In fact, it was under the watch of the Official Opposition when they formed the government that the Auditor General was removed from doing this job. The amendments to ATIPPA do not change the Auditor General’s access to information; in fact, the amendments to the Auditor General Act ensure that his ability to conduct his duties is maintained. In addition, the Auditor General has access to financial data for every single financial expenditure of the province and will continue to have this access in order to perform his duties.”

Questions have also been raised about how this legislation would have affected past events where access to information requests played a role. In no way would Bill 29 have impacted information provided during the Cameron Inquiry, the Burton Winters tragedy or the review by Justice Green of constituency allowance claims. If Bill 29 had been in force during these situations, the information provided would not have changed.

Minister Collins also expressed his disappointment in comments expressed by members of the Official Opposition and the Third Party that the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has been stripped of all its duties.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Minister Collins. “The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has broad abilities to review all records of government with a very limited exception of section five records which are exempt from the act, solicitor and client records, and official Cabinet records. ATIPPA must strike a balance between the right of the public to access information and good stewardship on the part of government.”

There are a number of other positive amendments that will allow public bodies to have more flexibility with respect to the disclosure of personal information without compromising an individual’s expectation of privacy; more comprehensive protection of information for parties who do business with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador; more time for the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner to conduct reviews; and, it provides the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner with the legislative authority to conduct privacy complaints.

Proclaimed in January 2005, ATIPPA applies to more than 460 public bodies such as government departments and agencies, health care and educational bodies and municipalities. The act mandates in Section 74 that a review of the legislation be commenced within five years. The Provincial Government announced a review of ATIPPA and the appointment of a commissioner on March 17, 2010. Commissioner Cummings sought input from residents of Newfoundland and Labrador on their experiences with the legislation, as well as any revisions they may suggest. The 80-page report was delivered on January 26, 2011, and contained 33 recommendations. During a subsequent review of the report, the Department of Justice compared Mr. Cummings recommendations with provisions contained in similar legislation in other Canadian jurisdictions.

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Media contact:
Vanessa Colman-Sadd
Director of Communications
Department of Justice
709-729-6985, 682-6593
vanessacolmansadd@gov.nl.ca

2012 06 15                       8:35 a.m.