Iqaluit asked to adopt privacy policy
Territory's manager hopes councillors can comply with proposed schedule
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, March 17, 2014
IQALUIT
After more than two years of fruitless correspondence with the City of Iqaluit, the Government of Nunavut is putting more pressure on council to implement an Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) policy.
While Nunavut municipalities are not subject to the ATIPP Act, there has been a push from the GN, as well as the information and
privacy commissioner, to make it a part of the city's legislation.
Jessica Bell, Nunavut's manager of ATIPP, spoke to Iqaluit city council during a regular meeting on March 11 and expressed a desire to work with members in order to implement the policy.
"We're aware of the challenges but Iqaluit can manage ATIPP, whereas smaller communities may not be able to," Bell said, adding the GN would like to see the program roll out to all the other communities eventually.
"I'm requesting the commitment of city council to implement and comply with access and privacy bylaws and policies in the spirit and intent of the ATIPP Act."
Many Canadian cities have implemented an ATIPP Act of their own, which serves to provide citizens with the right to request information held by municipalities.
Bell said Baker Lake was the only Nunavut community to take a pro-active approach to ATIPP, creating a bylaw for the purpose of making requests available to its residents.
Mayor John Graham said it would be a great opportunity for Iqaluit to implement the policy and guide other municipalities in the process.
"It's my understanding that Iqaluit can take the lead role in advancing this and setting an example across the territory," he said,
Coun. Mary Wilman said she fully supports the initiative but has concerns about how much additional work it would mean for city staff.
Bell said there are easy and difficult components to the policy, such as making sure information is properly safeguarded, but the city would be responsible for appointing someone to the position.
Bell said there has been "little to no progress" on the issue since she initially reached out to the city in November 2011.
Since then, her letters have mostly gone unanswered - including one in January.
In her follow-up letter a month later, she gave the city two options from which to choose.
"Comply with the deadlines provided or work toward an agreeable compliance timeline," she wrote, referring to a 12-month recommended program for compliance she suggested.
"Be added to Schedule A of the ATIPP Regulations, which will subject you to the ATIPP Act and Regulations, with a delayed coming into force of approximately one year."
She told council the first option was more beneficial because as it allows the city to determine what the privacy policy plan looks like.
"I've met with city officials and we don't want to be heavy-handed on this," Bell added.
Coun. Romeyn Stevenson, who expressed concern over the cost of record-management and man hours devoted to research, asked Bell whether there would be financial support from the GN down the road.
Bell said she couldn't guarantee that but assured
the councillor the policy would save the city money in the long run by preventing potentially costly breaches of privacy.
"It does sound like a costly venture, but ATIPP actually saves you money in the long run," she said.
"The amount of money it costs in the event of a privacy breach can far outweigh the cost it takes to implement privacy within the city."
