"I'm frustrated because there doesn't seem to be a lot of progress," said Elaine Keenan Bengts, the territory's privacy commissioner since the post was created in 1999. She holds the government job part-time while continuing in her private law practice.

She noted that while many of her previous recommendations had been accepted in policy by the government, "We have yet to see the changes made."

In her 2001-2002 annual report, Keenan Bengts recommends:

• privacy legislation that is binding on municipalities
• a privacy policy for the health care sector
• a generalized privacy policy for private sector business
• a close look at privacy considerations with information in public registries

Keenan Bengts warned that residents of the NWT are subject to "scary" post-Sept. 11 policy changes at the federal level. Ottawa is collecting information at unprecedented levels and using it for "undefined" purposes, she said, leading to the possibility of numerous incursions into privacy rights.

Speaking before the legislature's accountability and oversight committee Wednesday, Keenan Bengts was at significant odds with committee chair Charles Dent over the matter of "deemed" decisions.

The privacy commissioner is called in five or six times a year by people who feel they have been improperly treated under the Privacy and Information Act. In those cases, Keenan Bengts makes a recommendation which the government has 30 days to respond.

Ninety per cent of the time, the government accepts her recommendations. However, responses are sometimes slow in coming and Keenan Bengts wants a "deemed acceptance" after 30 days. In other words, if the government doesn't make a response within 30 days, it must accept her recommendation.

Dent said the government is considering a "deemed refusal" clause -- exactly the opposite.

Keenan Bengts said politicians are opposed to her recommendation because they are shy about revealing potentially embarrassing information.

"A 'deemed rejection' rule is like saying, 'we don't trust our information and privacy commissioner,'" she said. "That kind of a change to the legislation speaks volumes in terms of where the government stands."

"Like most politicians there is that little bit of them that is kind of afraid of what might embarrass them and they don't like that. And that's the nature of the game."