The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is in limbo following the recent resignation of interim commissioner Jackie Lake Kavanagh, and there’s no word on whether anyone will fill the position until a new commissioner is named at the end of this month.
That’s a problem, according to the office’s director of research and quality assurance, Sean Murray.
He says while the office still has the ability to investigate complaints received, only a commissioner has the authority to carry out the quasi-judicial and statutory functions of the office.
Murray says that means “there are things that we do on a day-to-day basis in carrying out our role that affect the rights of parties and that has legal consequences. Many of those roles have statutory deadlines associated with them; they must be performed within a specific timeframe.
“The way the law works in practice, is that the staff of the office carry out these roles on authority delegated from a duly-appointed commissioner or acting commissioner. So when there’s no commissioner in the chair, so to speak, the authority to carry out those tasks disappears.”
Former interim privacy commissioner Jackie Lake Kavanagh. (File photo)
The privacy commissioner’s office regularly receives complaints and requests to review responses received in relation to access to information legislation.
Former commissioner Michael Harvey stepped down in the spring and was replaced in May on an interim basis by Kavanaugh, who since resigned on Nov. 1.
A notice of motion was made in the House of Assembly on Monday to appoint a new commissioner for a six-year term by Nov. 25.
