BILL 7 – 2002
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY AMENDMENT ACT, 2002

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

1 Section 5 (1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 165, is repealed and the following substituted:

(1) To obtain access to a record, the applicant must make a written request that

(a) provides sufficient detail to enable an experienced employee of the public body, with a reasonable effort, to identify the records sought,

(b) provides written proof of the authority of the applicant to make the request, if the applicant is acting on behalf of another person in accordance with the regulations, and

(c) is submitted to the public body that the applicant believes has custody or control of the record.

2 Section 7 is repealed and the following substituted:

Time limit for responding

7 (1) Subject to this section and sections 23 and 24 (1), the head of a public body must respond not later than 30 days after receiving a request described in section 5 (1).

(2) The head of the public body is not required to comply with subsection (1) if

(a) the time limit is extended under section 10, or

(b) the request has been transferred under section 11 to another public body.

(3) If the head of a public body asks the commissioner under section 43 for authorization to disregard a request, the 30 days referred to in subsection (1) do not include the period from the start of the day the application is made under section 43 to the end of the day a decision is made by the commissioner with respect to that application.

(4) If the head of a public body determines that an applicant is to pay fees for services related to a request, the 30 days referred to in subsection (1) do not include the period from the start of the day the head of the public body gives the applicant a written estimate of the total fees to the end of the day one of the following occurs:

(a) the head of the public body excuses the applicant from paying all of the fees under section 75 (5);

(b) the head of the public body excuses the applicant from paying part of the fees under section 75 (5), and the applicant agrees to pay the remainder and, if required by the head of a public body, pays the deposit required;

(c) the applicant agrees to pay the fees set out in the written estimate and, if required by the head of a public body, pays the deposit required.

(5) If an applicant asks the commissioner under section 52 (1) to review a fee estimate or a refusal to excuse the payment of all or part of the fee required by the head of the public body, the 30 days referred to in subsection (1) do not include the period from the start of the day the applicant asks for the review to the end of the day the commissioner makes a decision.

(6) If a third party asks under section 52 (2) that the commissioner review a decision of the head of a public body, the 30 days referred to in subsection (1) do not include the period from the start of the day the written request for review is delivered to the commissioner to the end of the day the commissioner makes a decision with respect to the review requested.

(7) If a person asks under section 62 (2) for a review of a decision of the commissioner as head of a public body, the 30 days referred to in subsection (1) do not include the period from the start of the day the request for review is delivered to the minister responsible for this Act to the end of the day the adjudicator makes a decision with respect to the review requested.

3 Section 10 (1) is amended by adding "or" at the end of paragraph (b), by striking out ", or" at the end of paragraph (c) and by repealing paragraph (d).

4 Section 11 (1) is amended by striking out "10 days" and substituting "20 days".

5 Section 21 (1) (a) (ii) is amended by striking out "of a third party," and substituting "of or about a third party,".

6 Section 27 (1) is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(a.1) the collection of the information is necessary for the medical treatment of an individual and the public body is not able

(i) to collect the information directly from that individual, or

(ii) to obtain authority under paragraph (a) (i) for another method of collection, .

7 Section 33 is amended

(a) by repealing paragraph (d) and substituting the following paragraphs:

(d) in accordance with an enactment of British Columbia or Canada that authorizes or requires its disclosure,

(d.1) in accordance with a provision of a treaty, arrangement or agreement that

(i) authorizes or requires its disclosure, and

(ii) is made under an enactment of British Columbia or Canada, , and

(b) by adding the following paragraph:

(f.1) to an officer or employee of a public body or to a minister, if the information is necessary for the delivery of a common or integrated program or activity and for the performance of the duties of the officer or employee or minister to whom the information is disclosed, .

8 Section 34 (2) is repealed.

9 Section 43 is repealed and the following substituted:

Power to authorize a public body to disregard requests

43 If the head of a public body asks, the commissioner may authorize the public body to disregard requests under section 5 or 29 that

(a) would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the public body because of the repetitious or systematic nature of the requests, or

(b) are frivolous or vexatious.

10 Section 49 (1) is amended by adding "and" at the end of paragraph (a), by repealing paragraphs (b) and (c) and substituting the following:

(b) the power to examine information described in section 15.

11 Section 56 (1) is amended by striking out "must conduct an inquiry and may" and substituting "may conduct an inquiry and".

12 Section 58 (3) is amended

(a) by repealing paragraph (a) and substituting the following:

(a) confirm that a duty imposed by this Act or the regulations has been performed or require that a duty imposed by this Act or the regulations be performed; , and

(b) by repealing paragraph (e) and substituting the following:

(e) require a public body to stop collecting, using or disclosing personal information in contravention of this Act, or confirm a decision of a public body to collect, use or disclose personal information; .

13 Section 69 is repealed and the following substituted:

Personal information directory

69 (1) In this section:

"information sharing agreement" means an agreement that sets conditions on one or more of the following:

(a) the exchange of personal information between a public body and a person, a group of persons or an organization;

(b) the disclosure of personal information by a public body to a person, a group of persons or an organization;

(c) the collection of personal information by a public body from a person, a group of persons or an organization;

"personal information bank" means a collection of personal information that is organized or retrievable by the name of an individual or by an identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to an individual;

"privacy impact assessment" means an assessment that is conducted to determine if a new enactment, system, project or program meets the requirements of Part 3 of this Act.

(2) The minister responsible for this Act must maintain and publish a personal information directory to provide information about records held, and about the use of those records, by ministries of the government of British Columbia.

(3) The personal information directory must include a summary that meets the requirements of the minister responsible for this Act of the following information:

(a) the personal information banks that each ministry of the government of British Columbia holds;

(b) the information sharing agreements into which each ministry of the government of British Columbia has entered;

(c) the privacy impact assessments that each ministry of the government of British Columbia has conducted;

(d) any other information the minister responsible for this Act considers appropriate.

(4) The head of a ministry must correct as soon as possible any errors or omissions in the portion of the personal information directory that relates to the ministry, and provide the corrected information to the minister responsible for this Act.

(5) The head of a ministry must conduct a privacy impact assessment and prepare an information sharing agreement in accordance with the directions of the minister responsible for this Act.

(6) The head of a public body that is not a ministry must make available for inspection and copying by the public a directory that lists the public body's personal information banks and includes the following information with respect to each personal information bank:

(a) its title and location;

(b) a description of the kind of personal information and the categories of individuals whose personal information is included;

(c) the authority for collecting the personal information;

(d) the purposes for which the personal information was obtained or compiled and the purposes for which it is used or disclosed;

(e) the categories of persons who use the personal information or to whom it is disclosed;

(f) information required under subsection (7).

(7) The minister responsible for this Act may require one or more public bodies, or classes of public bodies, that are not ministries of the government of British Columbia

(a) to provide additional information for the purposes of subsection (6), and

(b) to comply with one or more of the subsections in this section as if the public body were a ministry of the government of British Columbia.

14 Section 72 is repealed.

15 Section 75 (4) and (5) is repealed and the following substituted:

(4) If an applicant is required to pay a fee for services under subsection (1), the head of the public body

(a) must give the applicant a written estimate of the total fee before providing the service, and

(b) may require the applicant to pay a deposit in the amount set by the head of the public body.

(5) If the head of a public body receives an applicant's written request to be excused from paying all or part of the fees for services, the head may excuse the applicant if, in the head's opinion,

(a) the applicant cannot afford the payment or for any other reason it is fair to excuse payment, or

(b) the record relates to a matter of public interest, including the environment or public health or safety.

(5.1) The head of a public body must respond under subsection (5) in writing and within 20 days after receiving the request.

16 Section 76 is amended

(a) in subsection (2) (i) by striking out ", the freedom of information directory or the public record index", and

(b) by repealing subsections (3) and (4).

17 The following section is added:

Ministerial regulation making power

76.1 (1) The minister responsible for this Act may amend, by regulation, Schedule 2

(a) to add to it any agency, board, commission or other body

(i) of which any member is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council or a minister,

(ii) of which a controlling interest in the share capital is owned by the government of British Columbia or any of its agencies, or

(iii) that performs functions under an enactment, and

(b) to designate or change the designation of the head of a public body.

(2) The minister responsible for this Act may amend, by regulation, Schedule 3 to add to it the name of the governing body of a profession or occupation if

(a) any member of that body is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, a minister or an Act, or

(b) the profession or occupation is governed under an Act.

(3) For the purposes of this section, Schedule 2 or Schedule 3 means that Schedule, as amended by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, on the date this section comes into force.

18 Section 80 is repealed and the following substituted:

Review of Act

80 (1) At least once every 6 years, a special committee of the Legislative Assembly must begin a comprehensive review of this Act and must submit a report respecting this Act to the Legislative Assembly within one year after the date of the appointment of the special committee.

(2) A report submitted under subsection (1) may include any recommended amendments to this Act or any other Act.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1), the first 6 year period begins on October 4, 1997.

19 Schedule 1 is amended

(a) by adding the following definition:

"day" does not include a holiday or a Saturday; ,

(b) by repealing the definition of "personal information" and substituting the following:

"personal information" means recorded information about an identifiable individual; , and

(c) by repealing the definition of "personal information bank".

Transitional

20 A modification in the method of calculating time under a section of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act that occurs as a result of an amendment enacted by this Act applies only to a period of time that begins after the amendment to that section comes into force.