Saskatchewan Commissioner releases annual report

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Saskatchewan, Gary Dickson QC, has released his annual report today. Here is the "Quick Overview":

A Quick Overview

This is my fifth Annual Report as
Saskatchewan’s first full-time
Commissioner.

Some good progress has been achieved
in terms of access to information and
privacy compliance in a number of areas.
In other areas, not enough has been
achieved.

My intention is that this Annual Report
provide both some perspective on the last
four and one-half years and an outline of
the challenges ahead for this office.
The people of Saskatchewan deserve an
access and privacy regime that is both
robust and effective.

My commentary in this Annual Report
needs to be qualified by the recognition
that achieving such a regime captures
much more than just the activities of our
oversight office. It entails other features
such as:

• Effective and up-to-date legislation;
  

  Strong network of FOIP Coordinators
  in all government institutions and local
  authorities;
  

• Comprehensive training program for
  all new public sector employees and
  contractors;
  
• System of
  in-service
  training for
  all existing
  public sector employees; and
  
• Detailed and practical manual that
  explains statutory requirements in
  plain language with checklists,
  specimen forms, and ‘decision trees’.

From the perspective of the individual in

Saskatchewan, a robust access and
privacy regime would feature:

• Relatively simple process to access
  one’s own personal information and to
  correct errors in that information;
  
• Full and timely response to any
  access requests;
  
• Relatively simple process to make a
  complaint that privacy requirements
  for a public body have not been met;
  
• A senior, properly trained and qualified
  FOIP Coordinator for the relevant
  public body who can assist the citizen
  to exercise the rights created by our
  three access and privacy laws; and
  

  Reviews by our office to be completed
  in majority of cases within five months.

Two central themes have crystallized
since I started in November 2003.

1. One is the largely unfinished state of
our access and privacy regime despite
the fact that FOIP is 16 years old.

2. The other is the burgeoning demand
by Saskatchewan citizens and
organizations for assistance from us in
coping with what is seen as a
fragmented, confusing and underresourced
trio of laws.

This includes demand from public
sector employees who want to do the
right thing and who do wish to ensure
their organizations meet access and
privacy requirements.

Our last four and one-half years have
seen significant increases in almost all
areas of service. Formal reviews of
access decisions and privacy complaints
received by our office for the 2007-2008
fiscal year are 40% higher than the
previous fiscal year. Requests to our
office for summary advice are up 29%.
Visitors to our website are up 20% over
the previous year.

This increase in demand for assistance
may be at least partly attributable to a lack
of tools and resources available to those
who need them.

That demand for service also reflects new
developments that have dramatically
sharpened the focus on personal health
information, technical threats to privacy
and the demand for transparent and
accountable government at all levels.

The OIPC is supported by the Legislative
Assembly Office that provides an array of
services. We appreciate and rely on
those resources.

I am very proud of what our small office
has accomplished in the last four and onehalf
years. The credit goes to the
wonderful team of men and women in this
office led by Diane Aldridge, Director of
Compliance and Pamela Scott, Manager
of Administration.