Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act

The ATIPP Act applies to GNWT departments. It also applies to most government boards and agencies. The act states that public records must be accessible. It also requires the GNWT to protect personal information. The act states how the public can access GNWT records. It also includes rules about how the GNWT collects, uses, and discloses information to protect people's privacy.

The act states that the GNWT should only collect the information it needs to deliver a program. The ATIPP Act overrules over other laws, unless those laws otherwise say.

Providing access to information is the starting point of the act. There are limited exceptions where the GNWT can refuse to provide access. These exceptions are to protect individuals' privacy, private business information, and advice to Cabinet.

In her opening remarks to committee, the IPC noted that, in 2018-2019, most files involved access to information. She told committee that 30 of 55 files opened under ATIPP related to "access to information." In eight of these files, the public body had failed to respond to an access request within the required time period. There were 14 files opened on privacy breaches, and the IPC issued 18 review reports. She summarizes these in her report.

Health Information Act

The Health Information Act (HIA) covers the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of personal information. The legislation applies to health records under the control of health practitioners, such as doctors or pharmacists.

The act says health practitioners should only have access to information they need to provide care. The act assumes a person seeking healthcare has consented to the collection, use, or disclosure of their health information. However, the practitioners must believe that the patient understands how their information will be collected, used, and disclosed.

The HIA gives patients the right to access their own health records. The GNWT can charge a fee to copy health records. If someone believes their records were wrongly collected, used, or disclosed, they can ask the IPC for a review. This applies to complaints about both access and privacy issues.

The act requires health practitioners to tell you and the IPC if the privacy of your health information has been breached.

In 2018-2019, the IPC opened 29 files under the HIA. Of these, 18 were breach-of-privacy notifications. While most were minor breaches, the media reported on two breaches. The first was a theft of a laptop containing health information of 40,000 NWT residents. The second was mental health and addictions records found at the Fort Simpson dump.

Noting the public concerns about these events, the IPC stated that awareness of privacy matters is on the increase and senior management is working toward improvement.

Mr. Speaker, I will now pass over to Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Thank you.