BC Legislative Committee
considering removing the SPCA's secrecy protection:
Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and
Protection of Privacy Act
3: SCOPE
Who is covered (and not covered) by the Act? Section 3 discusses
the scope of the Act and explains which records are covered by the
legislation and which are excluded. Currently the Act covers
approximately 2,200 public bodies in British Columbia. Qualifying as
public bodies are all provincial ministries, agencies, boards,
commissions, most Crown corporations, and offices or other bodies
designated in, or added by regulation, to Schedule 2; and local
public bodies. Schedule 3 identifies the governing bodies of a
profession or occupation falling under the purview of the Act.
The Committee received a few requests to extend the scope of
coverage to those entities no longer qualifying as public bodies
under the Act. In particular, it was suggested that the records of
former Crown corporations needed to be accessible. While we would
not normally condone the practice of exempting the entire records of
a public-private entity, because of its negative impact on access
rights, we have come to the conclusion that the decision to extend
or reduce the scope of the Act is a decision to be made by the
governing party, rather than private members serving on an all-party
parliamentary committee.
One case of exclusion, though,
deserves special mention. The Committee was asked to consider
bringing the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(BCSPCA) under the scope of the Act due to the problems some
individuals involved in the animal rights movement have experienced
obtaining records of its activities. Upon further inquiry, we
learned that the society has a unique status in terms of its
organizational structure. The BCSPCA is a not-for-profit and mainly
self-funded society organized under the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Act (R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 372). This statute enables the
society to provide animal welfare services through its
administration centre, branches or shelters, or authorized agents.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries provides a small
annual grant ($71,500) specifically for the training of animal
cruelty investigators. However, it has no authority to regulate the
society's activities,
except to require it to properly uphold an individual's civil
rights when exercising its investigative powers under the Act.
Municipalities have more regulatory power, under the legislation,
through their contracts with the society to provide pound services.
From the Committee's perspective, it is clear that the BCSPCA is
an anomaly. On the one hand, it is a public body in terms of having
statutory authority to deliver its animal welfare services. On the
other hand, its legal status as a non-profit society exempts its
records from the purview of the Act. Therefore we would urge the
government to look into this matter.
Recommendation No. 3 —Investigate why the B.C. Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was assigned the dual status of a
public body and a non-profit society in the first place and whether
there is a case for clarifying or even changing its status."
COMPOSITION of the COMMITTEE:
Blair Lekstrom, MLA Chair Peace River South: Mike Hunter, MLA
Deputy Chair Nanaimo: Bill Belsey, MLA North Coast: Harry Bloy, MLA
Burquitlam: Jeff Bray, MLA Victoria-Beacon Hill: Hon. Tom
Christensen, MLA (To February 10, 2004) Okanagan-Vernon: Dave Hayer,
MLA Surrey-Tynehead: Ken Johnston, MLA Vancouver-Fraserview: Harold
Long, MLA (To February 10, 2004) Powell River-Sunshine Coast: Joy
MacPhail, MLA Vancouver-Hastings: Sheila Orr, MLA Victoria-Hillside:
Barry Penner, MLA Chilliwack-Kent: Gillian Trumper, MLA
Alberni-Qualicum: Dr. John Wilson, MLA Cariboo North:
Reports: Enhancing the Province's Public Sector Access and
Privacy Law (May 2004) [ PDF | HTML ]
http://www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/37thparl/session-5/foi/reports/Rpt-FOIPPA37-5.pdf
