The Privacy Commissioner is raising serious questions about Bill 20 – legislation surrounding the merger of the province’s four regional health authorities – and whether it violates a section of ATIPP laws.

Michael Harvey notified Health Minister Tom Osborne and wrote to the each of the Government House leaders and Independent members outlining his concerns.

Opposition politicians accuse government of rushing the legislation through the House.

Harvey says the Bill will have significant impacts on the lives of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and he needs access to it to review before it is passed.

He got a “brief, high-level, verbal briefing” more than a week after notice was given on the Bill, “but we never did get the Bill before it was made public.” He is supposed to be consulted in confidence, and after the Bill is made public he can speak publicly about any concerns he may have. Instead, because he couldn’t provide feedback to the department in advance of it being made public, he had to instead provide “a really quick, expedited feedback directly to the House of Assembly.”

Harvey has three main concerns, including certain terms used to describe specific circumstances. That, he says, is a problem because none of the terms, including Social Determinants of Health, and Learning Health System, are clearly defined. Words matter, says Harvey.

“This is all very vague and broad,” Harvey cautions.

Opposition parties are astounded that the privacy commissioner could be overlooked with such a significant piece of legislation. In fact, NDP Leader Jim Dinn isn’t sure if something more sinister is at play.

One of Harvey’s main concerns is the protection of personal data, but Dinn says Premier Andrew Furey has to answer some questions concerning his directorship on the board of Sequence Bio, a medical firm, from 2016 to 2020. That company is researching the DNA and medical information of 10,000 volunteers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Minister Tom Osborne says he thought that Michael Harvey did have a copy of the legislation, and that his department has to do better. Dinn isn’t buying it though. He and PC interim Leader Barry Petten want government to pull Bill 20 back and give everyone more time to review it.

Meanwhile, there’s a meeting today between Osborne and Harvey. That meeting will determine whether the legislation goes through now or is delayed.