Submitted by Section Co-Chair, Monica Muller
Summary of Meetings
Number of Meetings Held: 5
November 8, 2012
Guest Speaker: Ryan Berger, Partner, Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP
Synopsis: "Roundtable Discussion: the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in R. v. Cole and its impact on the privacy rights of employees."
An overview of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision R. v. Cole 2012 SCC 53, followed by a roundtable discussion of the case and its implications in a variety of areas including workplace policies and equipment; the rights and duties of the employer to manage the workplace; investigations; labour bargaining, arbitrations and judicial reviews; employment cases; and privacy complaints and inquiries.
November 30, 2012
Guest Speakers: Suzanne Legault, Information Commissioner of Canada Mandy Woodland, Associate, Cox & Palmer, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Chair, National Privacy and Access Law Section, Canadian Bar Association
Synopsis: Suzanne Legault, Information Commissioner of Canada spoke by video conference about her office’s dialogue with stakeholders and Canadians on updating Canada’s 30-year-old Access to Information Act.
Mandy Woodland, Associate, Cox & Palmer, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Chair, National Privacy and Access Law Section, Canadian Bar Association, spoke by video conference about recent developments in Newfoundland, where the province’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act has recently undergone sweeping changes.
April 10, 2013
Guest Speakers: Robert Gunnarsson, Section Program Coordinator, Principal, Gunnarsson Law Alexis Kerr, Section Executive Member-at-Large, General Legal Counsel, Fraser Health Authority Sara Levine, Section Co-Chair, Associate Counsel, Alliance Lex Monica Muller, Section Co-Chair, Legal Counsel, Information Access, Vancouver Coastal Health
Synopsis: Case Law Review: Alexis Kerr reviewed United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v Alberta (Attorney General), 2012 ABCA 130, as it progresses to the Supreme Court of Canada
Monica Muller reviewed OIPC Order P12-01, Schindler Elevator Corporation, and the use of GPS tracking for employment management purposes.
Robert Gunnarsson reviewed recent decisions that address statutory exemptions from disclosure of information that amounts to advice and recommendations.
Sara Levine reviewed recent decisions that address disclosure of expert opinions.
May 1, 2013
Guest Speakers: Elizabeth Denham, Information & Privacy Commissioner for BC, Ryan Berger, Ryan Black, Ian Christman, David Curtis, Frances Doyle, Tamara Hunter, Janina Kon, Robert Pakrul, Ritchie Po, Troy Taillefer, Bill Trott, Melanie Vipond
Synopsis: Privacy Update 2013: one day course focusing on recent developments in privacy and access law brought to you by CLEBC in collaboration with CBABC's Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section.
May 29, 2013
Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Denham, Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia
Synopsis: Technology, Enforcement, and Legislative Change: News and Views from the Commissioner
Comments and Observations of the Chair
The Section focused many of its meetings on recent developments in legislation and case law, for both privacy and access.
The Privacy Update 2013, presented in collaboration with CLEBC, was a particular highlight. The course received very positive feedback from attendees. CBA FOI & Privacy Section involvement was critical to this success, any many Section members were involved with identifying content and delivering presentations at the event.
The Section also continued its tradition of inviting the BC Information and Privacy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner, Policy & Technology to speak at our annual section dinner, with the aim of informing members of developments at the OIPC and encouraging communication between Section members and the office.