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Bill No. 86 – The Protector questions proposed changes to the protection of personal information
Québec City, September 13, 2005 – In presenting her report today on Bill 86 to the members of the Committee on Culture, the Protector Pauline Champoux-Lesage reminded the committee that the only way to effectively protect personal information is through prevention. The proposed overhaul raises serious questions, especially as to the guarantees that would remain to preserve respect for privacy.
Ms. Champoux-Lesage explained that the changes put forward in the Act to amend the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information and other legislative provisions would completely transform the current rules governing the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. «If the changes are adopted as is, there will no longer be any way to know with any degree of precision why a piece of personal information is collected or used, by whom, and with what intent,» added Champoux-Lesage.
The bill would authorize a department or body to collect personal information for another body if both are under the same minister's responsibility. This means that the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) could collect personal information for Agence métropolitaine de transport, even if the SAAQ does not need this information for its own purposes. New broadly interpretable provisions have also been added to existing provisions that already authorize the use and disclosure of personal information without the individual's consent. The Protector believes that using personal information for the purposes for which it was collected should remain the rule, not the exception, and that Bill 86 should be reformulated as such.
As for the Commission d'accès à l'information (CAI), the Protector is in favor of adopting a code of ethics for commissioners. However, she explained that these measures do not make up for the fact that no recourse is available for Quebecers who want to dispute commissioners' work or attitudes. The bill should go further in this regard and provide for a control mechanism to address this shortcoming.
In conclusion, the Protector feels that Bill 86 marks a substantial improvement in terms of access to information, but that its new approach to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information addresses no clearly identifiable need.
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