The ''Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act'' (FIPPA) is an act of the

Manitoba Legislature The Legislature of Manitoba is the legislature of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the King of Canada in Right of Manitoba, represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, and the unicameral ...

in the Canadian province of

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

that is both an access-to-information statute and an information-privacy statute.Principles, History & Purposes of FIPPA
" Ch. 1 of ''Manitoba FIPPA Resource Manual''. Government of Manitoba. Retrieved 2021 May 7. It enables the right-of-access to records held by public agencies in the province and governs the handling of personal information by public bodies. The provincial

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

is responsible for the province-wide administration of the Act. Central administration and coordination of FIPPA is carried out by the Information and Privacy Policy Secretariat, under Manitoba Finance. The Secretariat advises the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...

on issues of

information access Information access is the freedom or ability to identify, obtain and make use of database or information effectively. There are various research efforts in information access for which the objective is to simplify and make it more effective for ...

ibility, confidentiality, and

privacy policy A privacy policy is a statement or legal document (in privacy law) that discloses some or all of the ways a party gathers, uses, discloses, and manages a customer or client's data. Personal information can be anything that can be used to identify ...

, as well as support services to other public entities under FIPPA.Administration of FIPPA
" Ch. 3 of ''Manitoba FIPPA Resource Manual''. Government of Manitoba. Retrieved 2021 May 7.

Overview

Under the Act, members of the public are within their rights (subject to certain exemptions) to see and obtain copies of records from Manitoba government departments, government agencies, local governments, school divisions, universities and colleges, regional health authorities, and other local public bodies. The Act protects individuals'

personal information Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person. The abbreviation PII is widely accepted in the United States, but the phrase it abbreviates ha ...

by establishing rules for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by public bodies. It also provides individuals the right to access their own personal information and to correct any information that public bodies hold about them. FIPPA does not apply to: (1)

private-sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment Th ...

businesses,

non-profit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

professional organization A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and th ...

s, which may be governed by the federal ''Personal Information Protection'' and ''Electronic Documents Act''; or (2) federal government departments, agencies, and

crown corporations A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

, which may be covered by the federal ''

Access to Information Act Access may refer to: Companies and organizations * ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network * Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom * Access Co., a Japanese software company * Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO s ...

'' and '' Privacy Act''. When public bodies withhold information from a record or withhold a record completely, they must indicate which "exception" provision of FIPPA was used to authorize the decision to refuse access. Public bodies are required to deny access if a mandatory exception applies to the requested information, but may choose to release or withhold information if a discretionary exception applies.https://www.gov.mb.ca/fippa/annual_reports/pdf/2019_report.pdf

Administration

The provincial

is responsible for the province-wide administration of the Act. Central administration and coordination of FIPPA is carried out by the Information and Privacy Policy Secretariat, a branch of Manitoba Finance. The Secretariat advises the

on issues of

ibility, confidentiality, and

, as well as support services to other public entities under FIPPA. (The minister responsible for the act was previously the Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage, and the Information and Privacy Policy Secretariat was part of

Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage (; formerly Manitoba Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport) is the department of the Government of Manitoba responsible for managing government programs and services that support the sport, art, culture, and he ...

.) The Secretariat provides guidance to Access and Privacy Coordinators and Officers of all public bodies on the administrative requirements of FIPPA. The Secretariat works closely with the Manitoba Archives and the Government Records Office. Regarding FIPPA, the functions of Manitoba Archives are directly related to its responsibility to administer the records management program of the Government of Manitoba under the provincial ''Archives and Recordkeeping Act''. The Archivist of Manitoba establishes policies, standards, and guidelines for government recordkeeping and approves departmental and agency "records schedules." (According to the Secretariat, a "‘records schedule’ is the formal, written plan that identifies government records, establishes their retention periods and provides for their disposition.")

Statistics

In 2019, government departments and agencies of Manitoba reported receiving 2,500 requests for access, an increase from the 2,323 requests received during 2018. The departments that received the highest number of requests were

Manitoba Justice , logo = , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , formed = , preceding1 = Department of the Attorney General , preceding2 = , dissolved = , jurisdiction = Government of Manitoba ...

(292), and Health, Seniors and Active Living (257).

History

In 1988, the ''Freedom of Information Act'' gave Manitoba its first access-to-government-information legislation. It provided for access by members of the public to records held by the

Government of Manitoba The powers and structure of the provincial Government of Manitoba (french: Gouvernement du Manitoba) are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term "government" referred broadly to the cabinet of the day (formally ...

and government agencies, with certain exemptions. The Act provided limited protection for personal information by treating third-party personal information as an exemption to disclosure. However, it was an access to information statute only; it did not protect all personal information that was collected, used, and disclosed by the government. Moreover, the access rights provided in this Act were limited to only those records held by the Manitoba's government departments and Crown agencies, but did not apply to other public bodies in the province, such as municipalities, public schools, regional health authorities, etc. Following public consultation and substantial research on similar legislation in other jurisdictions, the ''Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act'' (FIPPA) was drafted. In May 1996, a

discussion paper In the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, Hong Kong, the United States and the European Union, a green paper is a tentative government report and consultation document of policy proposals for debate and discussion ...

titled "Access to Information and Privacy Protection for Manitoba" was distributed. The public was invited to respond to the paper, as they did: many individuals, organizations, and government departments made oral and written submissions about new access and privacy legislation. On 4 June 1997, FIPPA was introduced in the

by the Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship, and was passed on June 27 that year. It was proclaimed in effect with respect to provincial government departments and government agencies on 4 May 1998, and for the City of Winnipeg on August 31. A couple years later, on 3 April 2000, FIPPA was extended to other local public bodies, such as school divisions, other

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, regional health authorities, etc. On 1 May 2008, the Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism tabled Bill 31, ''The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act'', which was passed on 9 October 2008.{{Rp, 7 This Act amends certain provisions of FIPPA and is in effect as of January 1, 2011.

References

External links

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

Text of the Act
Freedom_of_Information_and_Protection_of_Privacy_Act Manitoba, Freedom_of_Information_and_Protection_of_Privacy_Act Manitoba, Freedom_of_Information_and_Protection_of_Privacy_Act