Child and Family Services Act passes

The new Child and Family Services Act barely passed third reading in the legislature Tuesday afternoon with a 9-8 vote that gave the new act assent.

The new Child and Family Services Act barely passed third reading in the legislature Tuesday afternoon with a 9-8 vote that gave the new act assent.

While government members voted in favour of the new legislation, the eight opposition members in the house voted against it.

“Unfortunately, a decent bill didn’t become excellent,“ Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell said in an interview this morning. He pointed to concerns brought forward by first nations and the territory’s privacy commissioner.

“We could’ve made changes based on their concerns,“ Mitchell argued.

First nations have brought forward many concerns regarding the legislation and what they argue is the government’s failure to fully consult with them on it.

The territory’s information and privacy commissioner, Tracy-Anne McPhee, wrote a letter expressing her concerns over the impact the act would have on the privacy of individuals and the power the act gives to the director.

“Overriding the provisions of the ATIPP (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy) Act may undermine the public’s confidence in the protection of privacy, the ability to access information, the ability to correct errors and seek independent review,“ her letter states.

“I caution against creating separate regimes for particular types of records which can result in public confusion and an unnecessarily complicated patchwork of privacy and access legislation.

“Overriding the provisions of the ATIPP Act may also have the effect of eroding the commitment to open, transparent and accountable government.“

McPhee said this morning that in her role as the information and privacy commissioner, it’s her responsibility to monitor how the ATIPP Act is administered to make sure its purposes are achieved.

The act lists its purposes as:
- giving the public a right of access to records;
- giving individuals a right of access to, and a right to request correction of, personal information about themselves;
- specifying limited exceptions to the rights of access;
- preventing the unauthorized collection, use, or disclosure of personal information by public bodies; and
- providing for an independent review of decisions made under this act.

In her letter, McPhee said she attempted to answer the question of what impact the administration of the Child and Family Services Act would have on the ATIPP.

What the government chooses to do with that is up to members, she said, noting it’s not her role to comment on the actions taken.

A motion brought forward by Liberal House Leader Gary McRobb to allow McPhee to appear as a witness was denied by government members.

McPhee said that while she hadn’t asked to appear as a witness, she had offered to be there to answer questions if requested to.

McPhee said she will continue to carry out her role as privacy commissioner, looking at how the ATIPP Act is administered to make sure the purpose of it is achieved.

Mitchell and NDP Leader Todd Hardy said in separate interviews that while the new act is an improvement, they couldn’t vote in favour of it given the many concerns that arose.

“It wasn’t necessarily a vote against the Child and Family Services Act,“ Hardy said, arguing for the NDP, it was a vote against the process.

The government vetoed amendments brought forward by the opposition to address the many concerns over the new legislation, he said.

The new legislation could mean private information is at risk of being transmitted to third parties, Mitchell said.

It could also mean that first nations in the territory start taking over their own child welfare, he suggested.

That may be a good thing for first nations, the Liberal leader suggested, but it should be from a positive desire to assume more responsibility, not out of frustration with the government, as may be the case this time.

Both leaders expect issues will come forward over the next few years around the concerns expressed over the new act.

That could force the government to deal with each matter piece by piece as issues arise in the coming years, Hardy said.

Child welfare legislation in the Yukon had not undergone major changes in some 25 years, when Andy Philipsen, the late Yukon Conservative cabinet minister, sponsored the act the latest legislation will replace.