FOIPP legislation tabled in P.E.I. legislature
Bill would bring post-secondary institutions and certain municipalities under the Freedom of Information Act
The P.E.I. government tabled legislation Tuesday that would bring post-secondary institutions and certain municipalities under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP).
The bill would bring the communities of Charlottetown, Summerside, Stratford and Cornwall under the act. It would also apply to UPEI, Holland College, and College de L'Île. More communities and institutions can also be brought in under the regulations.
"They will have to do all the things that the provincial government will have to do," said Jordan Brown, Minister of Justice and Public Safety.
Calls to include UPEI, municipalities
FOIPP requires the government to respond to questions from the public within 30 days. The public can access records, including internal reports and emails.
Students and professors at UPEI have called for the university to be included in the act and a national review by News Media Canada in 2017 singled out P.E.I., stating it should include municipalities in the act as other provinces do.
Last fall, the province's information and privacy commissioner issued a report recommending the inclusion of post-secondary institutions, municipalities and police in the act.
Brown said the province is responding to feedback it has heard through public consultations.
Would take effect next year
The bill as tabled would not apply retroactively to any documents created before the changes take effect.
"This is not something that you just flip a switch and you have the capacity to do," Brown said.
"There is significant capacity, both in terms of having the resources, and also in terms of having the trained staff to be able to carry out the purposes of the legislation."
If passed, the changes would take effect in April 2019.
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With files from Kerry Campbell