BILL 15 – 2005
HEALTH STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2005

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

 
Health Authorities Act

1 The Health Authorities Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 180, is amended by adding the following section:

Exclusion of nurse practitioners

19.11 A registered nurse who

(a) works in a job for which authorization under an enactment to practise in British Columbia as a nurse practitioner is a requirement, and

(b) performs or provides services as part of the job described in paragraph (a) for which the authorization described in that paragraph is required at law for a registered nurse to perform or provide the services

is excluded from the bargaining unit described in section 19.4 (1) (b).

 
Vital Statistics Act

2 The Vital Statistics Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 479, is amended by adding the following section:

Information-sharing agreements

41.1 (1) The chief executive officer may enter into an information-sharing agreement with a body listed in subsection (2), under which information from the records in the office of the chief executive officer or of a vital statistics registrar may be disclosed, including disclosure of information

(a) on a bulk or regular basis, and

(b) that would be considered "personal information" under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

(2) The chief executive officer may enter into an information-sharing agreement under subsection (1) only with the following bodies:

(a) an agency or ministry of the government of British Columbia, of another province, or of Canada, including a Crown corporation;

(b) an aboriginal government, an educational body, a health care body or a social services body, as those terms are defined in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;

(c) a public body in another jurisdiction of Canada that is equivalent to one described in paragraph (b);

(d) a prescribed body that is public in nature.

(3) An information-sharing agreement under subsection (1) must identify all of the following:

(a) the persons, by name, title or position, who may have access to the information under the agreement;

(b) the circumstances in which information may be disclosed under the agreement;

(c) the limits, if any, on

(i) the disclosure of information by the chief executive officer under the agreement, and

(ii) the use or disclosure of the information obtained under the agreement by persons identified under paragraph (a);

(d) the conditions, if any, on the disclosure of information under the agreement, including

(i) conditions respecting the storage of disclosed information by persons identified under paragraph (a), and

(ii) conditions respecting the monitoring of compliance with the agreement;

(e) the term of the agreement and the circumstances in which the agreement may be renewed, suspended or terminated.

(4) An information-sharing agreement under subsection (1)

(a) is not effective until the agreement is approved by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and

(b) must not be amended except with approval by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(5) An order under subsection (4) (a) must identify all of the following:

(a) the information-sharing agreement, by referring to the parties to the agreement and the date on which the agreement is executed;

(b) the type or nature of the information that may be disclosed;

(c) the purpose for which the disclosed information may be collected or used.

(6) Despite subsection (4), the chief executive officer may enter into or amend an information-sharing agreement as described in subsection (1) without approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council if all of the following conditions are met:

(a) the information being disclosed is limited to information respecting the registration of births or deaths;

(b) the information is being disclosed only to an agency or ministry of the government of British Columbia, of another province, or of Canada, including a Crown corporation;

(c) the information is being disclosed only for the purpose of verifying information held by the agency or ministry, or determining entitlement to a benefit, privilege or other interest;

(d) the information-sharing agreement identifies the information set out in subsection (3) and is signed by the agency or ministry and the chief executive officer.

3 Section 54 (2) is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(b.1) prescribing bodies with which the chief executive officer may enter into information-sharing agreements under section 41.1 (2) (d); .

Commencement

4 This Act comes into force on the date of Royal Assent.