SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT
2010 Legislative Session: Second Session, 39th Parliament
SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT
|
SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT |
|
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
10 a.m.
Douglas Fir Committee Room
Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C.
Present: Ron Cantelon, MLA (Chair); Doug Routley, MLA (Deputy Chair); Harry Bloy, MLA; Stephanie Cadieux, MLA; Marc Dalton, MLA; Eric Foster, MLA; Guy Gentner, MLA; Douglas Horne, MLA; Jenny Wai Ching Kwan, MLA;
Harry Lali, MLA; Ralph Sultan, MLA
Unavoidably Absent: Katrine Conroy, MLA
1. The Chair called the Committee to order at 10:04 a.m.
2. Resolved, that the Committee meet in-camera to deliberate upon its draft report to the House (Harry Bloy, MLA).
3. The Committee deliberated in-camera from 10:09 a.m. to 11:56 a.m.
4. The Committee met in public session.
5. The Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair at 11:57 a.m.
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS
(Hansard)
sPecial committee to review the
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Issue No. 8
ISSN 1708-3168
|
contents |
|
|
Page |
|
|
Preparation of Committee Report |
147 |
|
Chair: |
* Ron Cantelon (Parksville-Qualicum L) |
|
Deputy Chair: |
* Doug Routley (Nanaimo–North Cowichan NDP) |
|
Members: |
* Harry Bloy (Burnaby-Lougheed L) |
|
|
* Stephanie Cadieux (Surrey-Panorama L) |
|
|
* Marc Dalton (Maple Ridge–Mission L) |
|
|
* Eric Foster (Vernon-Monashee L) |
|
|
* Douglas Horne (Coquitlam–Burke Mountain L) |
|
|
* Ralph Sultan (West Vancouver–Capilano L) |
|
|
Katrine Conroy (Kootenay West NDP) |
|
|
* Guy Gentner (Delta North NDP) |
|
|
* Jenny Wai Ching Kwan (Vancouver–Mount Pleasant NDP) |
|
|
* Harry Lali (Fraser-Nicola NDP) |
|
* denotes member present |
|
|
Clerk: |
Craig James |
|
Committee Staff: |
Josie Schofield (Manager, Committee Research Services) |
|
Kathryn Butler (Committee Researcher) |
|
[ Page 147 ]
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010
The committee met at 10:04 a.m.
[R. Cantelon in the chair.]
R. Cantelon (Chair): My name is Ron Cantelon. I'm Chair of the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and I call this meeting to order.
At the outset, I'm sure all members of the committee send their best regards and best wishes to Katrine Conroy. She has taken on a very, very brave task, a very daunting task. Our prayers and our thoughts are with her, and we certainly hope she recovers quickly and comes back to us.
Preparation of Committee Report
R. Cantelon (Chair): Having said that, now we begin the deliberations. When we started it seemed like we had lots of time. I recall the vice-Chair talking about: "Oh, we'll push the time back for this and get more time." Now all of a sudden we're in May.
I don't know where it all went, Vice-Chair, but here we are, and we've got a meeting two weeks from now.
We're going to introduce some of the thoughts and perhaps take a general direction of where we're going. Then, when we come back in two weeks, we need to be prepared to pretty much, as far as we can, wrap it up but then, if need be, to hold subsequent meetings.
I think this is really a great opportunity. It's not often that both sides of the Legislature get an opportunity to review an act, to make direct recommendations on an act. Usually that's a ministerial prerogative, so it really is a special privilege.
I'm very interested to see how we go here. We have a chance to really make a difference. Of course, we need to try to strike a balance between making government as open and accountable as possible and then, on the other hand, protecting the privacy of individuals. It's going to be a tricky balance.
I look forward to our discussions. I hope and encourage everybody to carry on, as possible, in a non-partisan way. We are to be non-partisan and make our recommendations in the sincere hope that we're making a difference in making government more accessible, while protecting privacy.
I'm going to turn it over to Craig here to give us some procedural advice.
C. James (Clerk Assistant and Clerk of Committees): Customarily, when parliamentary committees consider their report to the House, they move in camera for the purposes of that deliberation, so I'm sure that the Chair will request a motion to that effect.
Then in this case, in terms of considering the report to the Legislative Assembly on the review of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, generally speaking and subject to the will of the members, the discussion surrounds policy areas that the committee would like to see addressed in relation to amendments — if that's the case — to the legislation and avoids the prospect of actually redrafting the legislation or providing specific wording for various clauses.
Of course, that's subject to the will of the committee. I think the drafting is generally left to those with a great skill in producing amendments, should that be the case. But again, we're in the hands of the committee in terms of the direction the committee wishes to go in that regard.
R. Cantelon (Chair): I'd also like comments from Josie Schofield. We're extremely fortunate. I had the good fortune to have Josie with us when we reviewed PIPA, which is the companion act, last year. I don't know how she did it, but she managed to somehow make sense of and untangle and straighten out our discussions and will do so here.
Josie, I wonder if you could make a couple of comments about what you see — you being able to help us.
J. Schofield: Yes, I'd just like to explain, really, what the role of the research staff is in the context of a statutory review. My understanding is that what would be very helpful for people who are going to use this report in the future is that we make the MLAs' intentions clear. In other words, as Craig said, we don't really want to get too much into dotting the i's and so on.
I'm very much looking forward to this meeting today in order that we can have direction from members in order to produce a draft for the next meeting for you to review. Essentially, I look forward to the meeting, Chair.
H. Bloy: I move that we move in camera.
Motion approved.
The committee continued in camera from 10:09 a.m. to 11:56 a.m.
[R. Cantelon in the chair.]
R. Cantelon (Chair): Thanks very much, everybody. We meet in two weeks, and I'm very enthusiastic. We might be able to wrap it up.
The committee adjourned at 11:57 a.m.
Copyright © 2010: British Columbia Hansard Services, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada