FIFTH SESSION, THIRTY-SEVENTH PARLIAMENT
MAY 2004
ENHANCING THE PROVINCE'S PUBLIC SECTOR AND PRIVACY LAW
SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION
OF PRIVACY 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.