Canadian Lawyer

LEGAL REPORT/PRIVACY LAW of care information — s. 18 of FIPPA has an exemption for quality of care infor- mation that is not under the Quality of Care Information Protection Act of 2004. "There are specific criteria in order for the exemption to apply but if it applies then that information will be protected from disclosure for the rationale that is con- sistent with notions of quality and qual- ity assurance, Protection is also provided for quality regional leader of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP' " says Bonnie Freedman, mation but the big shift is that with FIPPA it has created a statutory and regulatory regime for requests, setting out exclusions and a time period for processing requests, a way of calculating costs, and an independent body in the form of the information privacy com- missioner reviewing decisions made by hospitals. "We actually hope for FOI requests group. Hospitals have always disclosed infor- s privacy and access to information because they will help us get information out rather than deal with fear monger- ing; we hope it can help educate and our plan is to give more information than give less and contextualize it," says Taylor. In fact, CAMH anticipated a huge influx of FOI requests after some came in early during the six months prior to Jan. 1. "I thought we would have quite a few because CAMH have some controversial elements that people are interested in such as covert adminis- tration of medication or our restraint policy — those things are of interest in the academic sphere. In fact a young law student at the University of Toronto wrote ahead of time and said 'In light of FIPPA you might want to give this to me ahead of time. . . " But we told him to come back Jan. 1. There have only been half a dozen requests like that but not the influx we were expecting. Making a request for information is one thing, but the privacy offices of " PURE ECONOMIC LOSS, SIXTH EDITION BRuCe FeldthuseN, B.A. (hoNs.), ll.B., ll.M., s.J.d. NEW EDITION ECONOMIC NEGLIGENCE: THE RECOVERY OF In Economic Negligence: The Recovery of Pure Economic Loss, Sixth Edition, author Bruce Feldthusen draws upon the law of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand to paint a thorough analysis of pure economic loss and recovery. His expertise in analyzing pure economical loss has been adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada; now you can use it to your own benefit. Previous editions of this title have been widely cited across a variety of Canadian jurisdictions and throughout all levels of Courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. 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We want to have an upfront conversation about how we keep records and what we will find for them and antici- pate what they really want or explore whether there is an alternative. s very unsatisfactory if someone puts in dated with requests either, but they are starting to trickle in, she says. "The flavour and character of it and how it impacts the hospital will be dictated by the interest the public has and in what areas. We've had 15 to 20 discreet requests so far. We're not really at a point where we can make any evaluation of what it means for the organization but that will be what changes it — how it' To date, SickKids has not been inun- " information is important but as a public institution with limited resources it' cal requesters really know what they want. "We've had a few requests come in already where the cost would be $2,800 or $3,200. What we try to do is give them a choice and say based on conversations we've had this is what it will cost and suggest an alternative. Evans agrees that providing access to s criti- s used by the public." Freedman agrees the requests made by the public can often be cumbersome and with- out assistance may not net the right answer. "I've dealt with access requests for 4,000 or 5,000 pages of information and before you can release it you have to make sure you're not breaching somebody's privacy. You may have to give notice to a third party and the third party may not get back to you in time and you're reluctant to reply without the input of the third party. " around procurement will be among the top three areas of requests for information, and Freedman says while some aspects of doc- uments such as proposals for services may be protected, other aspects may be made public. "The right of access is not absolute. It has to be balanced against personal pri- vacy. It is expected requests for information " tions related to a third party's privacy. However, hospitals have experience 48 M AY 2012 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com " Section 17 in FIPPA outlines exemp-

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