A Tory MHA is accusing a Liberal Cabinet Minister of violating ATIPPA legislation.
The matter was first raised in the House of Assembly on Monday, when PC MHA Paul Dinn asked Minister Bernard Davis about the expat survey by Goss Gilroy. The survey looked into why people leave this province, and how to get them back.
Hansard from June 17, 2019.
Dinn asked why the Department was sitting on the report, before Davis denied the question, saying that the Opposition already had access to a copy of the report.
The topic arose again today.
Dinn questioned Davis on how he knew that the Opposition received a copy of the survey—as information on who submits a request under ATIPPA is supposed to stay confidential.
Bernard Davis says it was through Dinn’s own questioning that he assumed Dinn had a copy. Davis says that he hasn’t received information stating that the Opposition would have a copy, aside from questions raised in the House.
As minister, Davis says he knows when a request comes in, but not the identity of whoever requested the information.
The two weren’t finished there.
Dinn fired back, quoting Davis as saying “He has a copy of the report. It was sent to him, I don’t know, a month or more ago.” Dinn says that lines up with the timeframe in which their office received a copy of the report.
Dinn says if the Minister knew they received the report, it could be a privacy breach under ATIPPA legislation.
Davis stuck to his guns, saying the information came from Dinn’s questioning. He says he would not have known the Opposition had an ATIPPA request come in, other than that there was a request.
