EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
To the greatest extent possible, all elections for the municipal councils, district education authorities, and the Legislative Assembly itself will be conducted under the same set of rules and elections results for its institutions will be publicly posted on Election Nunavut’s website.
The chief electoral officer will have overall responsibility for the conduct of local elections and his annual reports to the Legislative Assembly will account to the Members of this House for Elections Nunavut’s work in this area.
As members will recall, the first bill passed by the current Legislative Assembly introduced fixed election dates for territorial elections. The next general election will be held in October of this year.
Bill 49 provides that all elections for the municipal councils and district education authorities will be held on the fourth Monday of October. Office-holders will have a standard four-year term.
As members will recognize, a transitional period is required to implement this legislation.
The transitional rules begin on October 1, 2018 and all new rules begin on April 1, 2019.
Consequently there will be no elections for municipal councils in October, November, or December of 2018.
All municipal councillors who hold office on October 1, 2018 will have their terms automatically extended or shortened, depending on when their term ends, to noon on October 29, 2019, the date on which elections to municipal councils and district education authorities will be held across the territory in all communities.
(interpretation) General comments, Mr. Rumbolt.
I have a question regarding the opening comments. For the record, just so that the listening public has an idea of why we are doing what we are doing, in your opening comments and in the bill it talks about only hamlets and DEAs are affected by this legislation.
I would like if they could explain exactly why we’re doing it this way and we’re not including housing associations or other entities in our communities.
Speaker (interpretation): I would like the person to my right, Dustin, to respond to this, please.
Mr. Fredlund.
Mr. Fredlund: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to present for the first time, as noted, as chief electoral officer.
The purpose of this bill is to harmonize the election rules for entities that are under the Local Authorities Elections Act with the Nunavut Elections Act.
Currently only the district education authorities and the municipal councils are recognized under that Act.
The reason why we’re moving forward with only the district education authorities and the municipal councils is because they’re the only ones that are recognized.
Mr. Enook. (interpretation) My apologies.
I don’t have any more names on my list for questions.
No one has their hand up. (interpretation ends) Go to your legislation binders and go to Bill 49 for the clause-by-clause review.
(interpretation) I believe you all have the bill in front of you now.
We will proceed. (interpretation ends) Bill 49, An Act to Provide for Elections for Municipal Councils and District Education Authorities.
Chairman: Do members agree to Bill 49 as a whole?
Do members agree, pursuant to Rule 62(2), that Bill 49 can immediately be placed on the orders of the day for third reading?
Closing comments on Bill 49, (interpretation) Speaker, Mr. Qulaut.
Speaker (interpretation): I thank you very much and our fellow Nunavummiut who took part in putting this together, especially the hamlet councils and district education authorities. They answered the questions very clearly during the consultations.
I would also like to thank my assistants here, Patrick Orr and Dustin Fredlund.
They did a lot of work on this and I thank them very much.
I also thank you all. (interpretation ends) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
(interpretation ends) Speaker Qulaut, do you have different officials that you want to appear before the committee?
Bill 50 – An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act and the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act – Consideration in Committee
Speaker (interpretation): Sorry. (interpretation ends) Yes, I do.
Does the committee agree to let the witnesses in?
For the record, Speaker Qulaut, please introduce your officials.
Beside me is the Clerk of the House, John Quirke.
You can proceed with your opening comments, Speaker Qulaut.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) I am pleased to have the opportunity to provide some brief opening comments concerning Bill 50, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act and the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act.
This bill amends the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act to harmonize the timing of actuary valuations with the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act.
I don’t see anyone raise their hand. (interpretation ends) Go to your legislative binders and Bill 50.
(interpretation) I believe you have it in front of you now. (interpretation ends) Bill 50, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act and the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act.
Chairman: Do members agree to Bill 50 as a whole?
Do members agree, pursuant to Rule 62(2), that Bill 50 can immediately be placed on the orders of the day for third reading?
Chairman: Thank you. (interpretation) That bill is done.
You can now make your closing remarks, Speaker Qulaut.
As Speaker of the House and the Clerk, John Quirke, beside me, we both thank all of you and all of the MLAs for passing this very important bill.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you very much. (interpretation ends) I almost got promoted
(interpretation) Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the Speaker’s official out.
Your committee has been considering Bill 49 and Bill 50 and would like to report that Bills 49 and 50 are immediately ready for third reading.
(interpretation ends) Hon. Member for Quttiktuq, Mr. Shooyook.
Bill 49 – An Act to Provide for Elections for Municipal Councils and District Education Authorities – Third Reading
I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Cambridge Bay, that Bill 49, An Act to Provide for Elections for Municipal Councils and District Education Authorities, be read for the third time.
Bill 50 – An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act and the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act – Third Reading
I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Cambridge Bay, that Bill 50, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act and the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, be read for the third time.
A reminder that there’s a meeting tomorrow morning at nine o’clock of the Standing Committee on Legislation in the Nanuq Boardroom.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) This House stands adjourned until Wednesday, June 7, at 1:30 p.m.
Appendix – June 6, 2017
Report on the Review of the Information and Privacy Commissioner's 2016 Report on the Privacy Audit of the Qikiqtani General Hospital
Spring 2017 Sitting
In its Report on the Review of the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 Annual Reports of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, which was presented to the Legislative Assembly on October 28, 2014, the standing committee recommended that “the Government of Nunavut co-operate with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in undertaking at least one formal privacy audit of a department, Crown agency or territorial corporation during the 2015-2016 fiscal year.”
The Information and Privacy Commissioner’s Report on the Privacy Audit of the Qikiqtani General was tabled in the House on November 8, 2016.
The standing committee received a copy of the government’s formal response to the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s report on May 3, 2017, entitled Department of Health Responses to IPC QGH Privacy Audit Recommendations (Appendix A).
The May 10-11, 2017, appearances of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and Government of Nunavut officials before the standing committee took place in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly.
Issue: Legislation and Policy
In her 2016 Report on the Privacy Audit of the Qikiqtani General Hospital, the Information and Privacy Commissioner recommends that the Government of Nunavut develop health-specific privacy legislation.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner has been advocating for the development of this legislation for over a decade.
In its May 3, 2017, formal response to the recommendations of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, the government stated that:
“Health is leading a Committee with representation from across the Department and Justice; the Committee is developing a legislative proposal (LP) as well as developing a list of privacy related activities that can be undertaken in the absence of legislation.
It is anticipated that the legislative proposal will be submitted at the beginning of the next government.”
The standing committee continues to encourage the department to work closely with the Information and Privacy Commissioner on the development of health-specific privacy legislation.
The standing committee is aware that it may be a number of years before health-specific privacy legislation is passed and brought into force in Nunavut.
In the meantime, there are a number of outstanding issues concerning the protection of patients’ privacy that the standing committee believes need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Section 42 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act mandates that:
The head of a public body shall protect personal information by making reasonable security arrangements against such risks as unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure or disposal.
In her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner describes various types of security arrangements and safeguards that can be implemented to achieve that goal.
She states that:
“Safeguards against breaches of privacy might be categorized as soft or hard.
‘Soft' safeguards are things like requiring employees to provide a privacy pledge or oath, providing robust training, providing staff with a comprehensive set of policies and procedures for privacy protection.”
Unfortunately, in her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner also states that:
“What the Audit further revealed is that there is no privacy management program which is up-to-date, comprehensive and widely understood and supported.
Without such a privacy management program, the efforts we did find to promote privacy awareness and compliance tend to be fragmented, inconsistent, and not well understood by all staff at QGH.”
In her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner indicates that, during the course of her site visit to the Qikiqtani General Hospital, she witnessed several cases where personal health information was being improperly collected and retained on the premises.
During the standing committee’s May 10-11, 2017, televised hearing, government officials indicated that a number of procedures that are intended to ensure that personal health information is secured and protected are now being implemented.
Some of these procedures include timed screensavers for the hospital’s computers, newly secured offices with limited and electronic access, and the transfer of patient files from paper to electronic format.
The standing committee commends the hospital for its efforts.
However, the standing committee is it is of the view that the hospital must develop and implement clear and comprehensive policies to ensure that all staff are adhering to those procedures and protecting patients’ personal health information to the greatest extent possible.
The standing committee is aware that the government has implemented a number of policies concerning access to information and privacy, and has produced a comprehensive Privacy Management Manual, which may be accessed and used a resource by all government employees, including hospital staff.
In its introduction, this Manual reads:
“The Privacy Management Manual (PMM) is a comprehensive set of tools and resources to be used by all employees of the Government of Nunavut to successfully implement the privacy provisions of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) Act. All employees are required to familiarize themselves with the PMM as the ATIPP Act holds each employee accountable for the privacy of personal information under the custody and control of the government.”
However, in her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner stated that her office’s audit “revealed very little familiarity with the Manual within QGH.”
She also stated that:
“Despite the statement in section 8 of the Manual. that the document is designed to "assist the ATIPP Manager and ATIPP Coordinators in their efforts to prevent privacy incidents and privacy breaches by identifying existing gaps and weaknesses in the systems, policies and practices of public bodies", we found no evidence that either privacy inspections or privacy compliance audits have been done in QGH prior to this audit.”
During the standing committee’s May 10-11, 2017, televised hearing, government officials did not provide much information on what, if any, privacy-specific policies and procedures are currently in place at the hospital.
Government officials did provide some information on seven specific directives related to electronic health information, but these directives were, according to the Information and Privacy Commissioner, out-of-date and had not been implemented at the time of her audit.
During the standing committee’s May 10-11, 2017, televised hearing, government officials testified that:
“The question was for a list of the privacy…. I’m not sure on the exact wording, but the directives and the policies and so on.
All of them are actually located in the report of the privacy commissioner.
She had already included them in the appendix.
The only thing that I would have to add to that is the privacy and security directives that guide employees, contractors and agents of the Government of Nunavut on matters concerning the management of e-Health systems, including the iEHR system and there are seven directives and I’ll read them into the record. The seven directives include monitoring and audit of e-Health systems, e-Health information security, retention and disposal of electronic personal information, e-Health information privacy and password management for e-Health systems, collection use and disclosure of personal information in e-Health systems and finally e-Health access control.
These are the directives that are being translated and will be tabled.”
The standing committee is concerned that the department appears to only have prepared policies for personal health information that is collected, used and disclosed through its “e-Health systems,” despite the fact that the hospital and community health centres are all operating on a hybrid system where personal health information is currently being retained in both paper and electronic formats.
While the standing committee recognizes that the Department of Health has made efforts to develop directives, policies and other materials to inform its employees of privacy best practices and expectations, these efforts need more coordination and monitoring.
The standing committee recommends that the Government of Nunavut provide, in its response to this report, a list of all formal policies that it currently has in place at the Qikiqtani General Hospital concerning the protection of privacy or access to information.
The standing committee further recommends that the Government of Nunavut develop a suite of policies that establish mandatory requirements and responsibilities for the protection of personal health information that is collected, used or disclosed by the hospital, community health centres, and all other health service providers in the territory.
The standing committee further recommends that the Government of Nunavut, in its work to develop privacy-specific policies for the hospital and community health centres, ensure that the following areas are addressed:
A definition of personal health information;
A limited list of persons who may receive access to personal health information;  Training that will be required of persons who are provided with access to personal health information;
Oaths of confidentiality or standards of conduct that must be acknowledged and agreed to by persons who may receive access to personal health information;  A list of persons responsible for implementing privacy protection measures any and all guiding principles that must be acknowledged and agreed to by such persons;
A list of the circumstances under which personal health information maybe accessed;
Established procedures and processes that may be used to retain or destroy personal health information;
Specific measures that will be taken to monitor the implementation of legislation and policies concerning privacy protection;
Limits on the manner and scope that personal health information may be collected;
Limits on the use, disclosure and retention of personal health information;
A list of security safeguards that must be in place at each facility;
An established process by which a person may access their information;
Established procedures or processes by which health care service providers or the department must inform patients of their right to access their own personal health information;
An established process by which a person can submit complaints and inquiries regarding their request to access their information;
Established procedures and processes for addressing privacy incident and breaches specific to the hospital and community health centres;
Established procedures or processes by which the hospital or community health centres will conduct privacy impact assessments; and
Established rules for the agreements under which a health service provider may share personal health information, including the responsibilities of any third party service providers who receive access to personal health information under such agreements.
The standing committee further recommends that the Government of Nunavut provide, in its response to this report, a detailed timeline by which it plans to have completed a suite of comprehensive policies for the protection of personal health information.
The standing committee further recommends that the Government of Nunavut makes all policies related to the protection of personal health information available to the public as early as practicable.
Issue: Training
In order to implement or administer any privacy-related legislation or policy, the Department of Health ultimately relies on each individual employee in the hospital to understand and comply with appropriate practices and procedures concerning the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information.
In her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner raises concerns that the department is not providing hospital staff with sufficient information or training on privacy best practices.
In her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner stated that:
“We found that there is no comprehensive privacy training program for new hires nor in-service training on privacy best practices.”
In her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner recommended that:
“There should be comprehensive compulsory privacy training with appropriate privacy training materials for all QGH staff.
This should include training on the Meditech system.”
In its May 3, 2017, formal response to the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s report, the government did not clearly indicate if it agrees that comprehensive and privacy-specific training should be compulsory for all hospital staff.
Instead, in response to this specific recommendation, the government only makes reference to “training on the Meditech system.”
During the standing committee’s May 10-11, 2017, televised hearing, government officials did provide some information on the training that it is currently provided to hospital staff to inform them of privacy best practices and of their obligations under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
During the standing committee’s televised hearing, the following exchange took place:
“Mr. Rumbolt: Thank you, Madam Chairperson.
On page 41 of the report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner states that she found stacks of patient files sitting on unattended desks during the course of her audit.
What types of training does your department provide to hospital staff to inform them of privacy best practices?
Chairperson: Thank you, Mr. Rumbolt.
Ms. Stockley: Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Again, it’s an on-the-job type of training that is provided on orientation with periodic updates through directives coming from the department, newsletters, and updates shared with staff.
Thank you, Madam Chairperson.”
During the standing committee’s May 10-11, 2017, televised hearing, government officials also testified that:
“Health provides periodic communications to its staff such as ATIPP coordinator guides on topics such as proper encryption of confidential information, sending and receiving electronic and physical mail, and how to properly save files to protected drives.
Information related to privacy protection is also disseminated though interdepartmental newsletters.
Staff training opportunities around records management and ATIPP training are available and provided by the Government of Nunavut, as well as through presentations offered to community health staff groups during meetings and conferences.”
During the standing committee’s May 10-11, 2017 televised hearing, government officials also testified that:
“We do regular circulation of privacy directives for staff and the expectation is that they will inform their patients, their clients.
We do consistent training and presentations for all staff.
We do standard orientation presentations for new frontline health care providers, and we do information dissemination through the two health internal newsletters called The Pulse and The Connection that are distributed right throughout the territory to health care providers.”
The standing committee is concerned that the training described by government officials is not sufficient to constitute comprehensive and privacy-specific training, for a number of reasons.
First of all, there appears to be no expectation that all hospital staff should have privacy-specific training. The official’s testimony that the department does provide “consistent training and presentations for all staff” was not supplemented by any clear description of what components are included in that training.
The official’s testimony that “standard orientation presentations [are provided] for new frontline health care providers” does not explicitly confirm that this “orientation presentation” includes clear and specific information related to privacy best practices.
Secondly, if not all staff are required to take privacy-specific training at this time, there still appears to be no clear policy, directive or guideline that specifies which hospital staff must have privacy-specific training.
Furthermore, in their testimony, government officials made no mention of any mechanism to track whether or not staff who are required to take privacy-specific training do, in fact, take that training.
The standing committee recognizes that the Department of Health makes efforts to provide ATIPP training to hospital and community health centre staff.
However, in the same way that the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act does not provide the necessary health-specific legislative framework that the territory needs, the standing committee is of the view that the related ATIPP training does not provide the specific information that hospital and health centre staff need to know in order to protect the patients’ privacy to the greatest extent possible.
The standing committee is also concerned about the department’s apparent reliance on the use of presentations and “information dissemination” in providing information and training on privacy best practices to hospital staff.