Privacy Commissioner calls for OPC to have jurisdiction over PMO, ministerial offices

Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien is calling for the Office of the Privacy Commission (OPC) to have its jurisdiction extended to cover the Office of the Prime Minister and other federal ministerial offices. Therrien raised the proposal in a submission filed Tuesday as part of a statutory review to Canada’s Access to Information Act (ATIA), in which he also suggested that the the act's scope should be broadened to cover those same offices. Such expansions to the Privacy Act and ATIA would “ Canadians’ right of access to information, including their own personal information, regardless of where it is held within government,” Therrien wrote. In the submission, Therrien pointed to an alleged privacy breach relating to an unnamed potential judicial nominee to the Supreme Court of Canada. In its investigation, the OPC was unable to investigate whether the PMO or the Office of the Commissioner of Federal Judicial Affairs played a role in the incident, due to the OPC’s limited jurisdiction (although the OPC was able to investigate the Privy Council Office and Department of Justice). This limited the OPC’s ability to make definitive conclusions about the possible breach, Therrien wrote. “While we did not find a contravention of the Act by the government institutions that fall under our jurisdiction, it is clear that a candidate’s privacy was compromised and negatively impacted by the disclosure of his personal information relating to the Supreme Court application and nomination process.” Elsewhere in the submission, Therrien also called for revisions to ATIA that would protect the OPC from being required to release sensitive information that it gathers outside of its formal investigations. At present, the OPC can be required to release such information in response to an access to information request, because only information obtained “in the course of an investigation or audit” or information in formal PIPEDA breach reports is easily exempted from disclosure. Therrien wrote that the possibility of the OPC’s daily compliance activities being released under ATIA has made it harder for his office to carry out its work. “The challenge we have experienced is that organizations have been increasingly reluctant to engage with our Office due to concerns over the possibility that certain information may be disclosed under the ATIA. This reluctance has a direct impact on our Office’s ability to continue to achieve a high level of compliance through informal means. “ Therrien has long called for stronger privacy laws in Canada, and has pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic in the calls.

Privacy Commissioner calls for OPC to have jurisdiction over PMO, ministerial offices

Brief | February 24, 2021

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