Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Information and Privacy Legislation for Municipalities
The three northern territories are the only Canadian jurisdictions which do not have information and privacy legislation for municipalities. Municipalities collect and retain significant amounts of personal information about citizens and employees. There is no recourse in the NWT for citizens when this information is improperly used, nor are there any rules governing citizens’ access to municipal information.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner says she is receiving an increasing number of letters from people who are concerned about municipal access and privacy issues. In 2011-2012 the Commissioner received two formal complaints concerning a municipality’s use and/or disclosure of an employee’s personal information. In the absence of legislation, the Commissioner tried to engage with the municipality in a discussion about policies, guidelines and best practices, but received no reply.
Previous standing committees have supported the Commissioner’s recommendation to make municipalities subject to access and privacy legislation. The NWT Association of Communities has a standing policy on access to information and protection of privacy which supports the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s recommendation to the extent of urging the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to prepare a discussion paper and commence consultation with stakeholders.
Last year the standing committee recommended the implementation of access and privacy legislation for municipalities, with a bill to be brought forward within the first two years of the 17th Legislative Assembly. The committee understands that small communities might not have the resources needed to implement access and privacy measures immediately. Members concurred with the Commissioner’s suggestion that legislation be developed, at the very least, for tax-based municipalities.
The government’s response, tabled October 17, 2012, recognized that this recommendation was still outstanding and, once again, acknowledged the importance of this issue. The response noted that officials from the departments of Justice and Municipal and Community Affairs met with
representatives of community governments and their administrators last fall. A working group was established to review how all NWT municipalities may be brought under existing access and privacy legislation and develop a discussion paper for stakeholders. The government does not wish to distinguish between tax-based communities and others for access and privacy purposes, as smaller communities that are incorporated as charter communities or hamlets now have the option to become tax-based.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased that the government has finally started working towards the inclusion of municipalities in access and privacy legislation. The government promised to provide findings to the standing committee when the review is concluded. Members appreciate the offer. It is not clear, however, when this report may be expected and the committee remains concerned about the slow pace of this initiative.
Recommendation 2
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories expedite work on bringing municipalities under the access to information and protection of privacy legislation, and that a phased approach to implementation be considered in order to take into account the needs and resources of smaller communities, while improving access to information and protection of privacy in larger population centres, and that the government table its review report and discussion paper in the fall sitting.
If these are not available, the government should table a detailed progress report on the municipal access and privacy initiative, identifying a timeline for completion and any additional resources required to complete the review report within the life of the 17th Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, I would now like to turn the floor over to my colleague Mr. Yakeleya.