Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey calls attention to the June 9 publication of the final report of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPPA) Statutory Review Committee 2020, chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice David B. Orsborn. The final report is available online here.
“I thank the Honourable David Orsborn for his dedication to conducting a fair and comprehensive review in an open and transparent manner,” notes Commissioner Harvey. “Mr. Orsborn clearly did a very thorough job and we appreciate his hard, thoughtful and diligent work. We will need to examine it with the same care that he wrote it. That said, now as much as at any time in our history, government transparency is critical so we will be doing our review as quickly as possible and we encourage the Government to also treat the matter with urgency.”
Commissioner Harvey also recognizes the efforts of those who made submissions to the Committee and encourages public bodies to review the final report.
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 (ATIPPA, 2015) requires that a comprehensive review of the provisions and operation of the Act be undertaken every five years. The ATIPPA Statutory Review 2020 Committee was established by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to conduct an independent statutory review of ATIPPA, 2015. The Committee examined the operation of the Act and made recommendations intended to ensure that the objectives of the Act are realized.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) is a statutory Office of the House of Assembly. OIPC has a broad range of responsibilities and powers under both the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 (ATIPPA, 2015) and the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA). Oversight of these Acts includes investigating and attempting to resolve complaints about access to information and protection of privacy involving public bodies under ATIPPA, 2015 and custodians of personal health information under PHIA. The Commissioner may also make recommendations in order to uphold the Acts and support better compliance.
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Media Contact
Sean Murray
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309