Thank you, Mr. Chair. Today the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented its report on the Review of the Northwest Territories Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2012-2013 Annual Report.

The committee thanks Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts for her report and for her appearance before the committee on April 25, 2014.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner has been encouraging the GNWT to find ways to include municipalities under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act or under their own legislation since her annual report of 2007-2008. The Commissioner has again repeated this recommendation in her 2012-2103 Annual Report.

The GNWT has responded to this recommendation in the past, acknowledging the importance of this work and has provided a timeline for its completion. Accordingly, the standing committee is recommending: • that the Government of the Northwest

Territories make every effort to complete the work necessary to bring municipalities under Access to Information and Protection of Privacy legislation; and

• that the government table its review report and

discussion paper in the 2014 fall sitting, identify next steps and resources necessary to complete this legislative initiative within the life of the 17th Assembly.

In the same vein, the Information and Privacy Commissioner has advised the GNWT that the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act is woefully out of date. The Commissioner has recommended to the GNWT that this legislation needs to be updated and has included this

recommendation in her annual report every year for the last five years, including again this year.

The ATIPP Act is now 18 years old. We have allowed it to become antiquated, even as we recognize that most important pieces of legislation should be reviewed after five- or 10-year intervals.

The standing committee is concerned that the GNWT’s legislation governing the use and disclosure of information has been allowed to become so outdated in this information age when we are increasingly recognizing the importance of information as a valuable resource that needs to be handled with care.

The committee believes that this situation cannot be allowed to persist and, therefore, recommends that: • the government provide an updated and

detailed progress report to this Assembly on work done towards a comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act; and

• that updates to the act be introduced during the

life of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

Other Members may have additional comments.