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Citizens' Alliance alongside The NSCLA, recently met with a legal team from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) regarding Nova Scotia Bill 419. The JCCF are in the early stages of planning a Charter Challenge to have this bill repealed, or reasonably amended. However, we need a group of plaintiffs! More on that shortly.
To give you some background, Bill 419, otherwise known as "An Act Respecting Certain Financial and Other Government Measures" is an omnibus bill (a single document that is accepted in a single vote but packages together several measures into one or combines diverse subjects) that lumps together a number of subjects, including some critical amendments to existing health information legislation. The core area we will focus on is on page 32 of the linked bill above and is as follows:
Part XV, Section 110
Section 110(1) of Chapter 41 of the Acts of 2010, the Personal Health Information Act, as amended by Chapter 31 of the Acts 2012 and Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2022, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (n) the following subsection:
S.110 (1)(na) requiring custodians and classes of custodians to disclose personal health information to the Minister or a person acting on behalf of the Minister for the purposes of planning and management of the health system, resource allocation and creating or maintaining electronic health record programs and services.
This language is purposely broad and vague.
First, what is a "person"? As defined in the the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) it is:
s.3(q) “person” includes a partnership, association or other entity”.
A “person” does not mean an individual which is defined in the Act as:
s.3(m) “individual" in relation to personal health information, means the individual, whether living or deceased, with respect to whom the information was or is being collected or created”
Second, what is a "custodian"? As defined in the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA):
s.3(f) "Custodian" means an individual or organization described below who has custody or control of personal health information as a result of or in connection with performing the person’s or organization’s powers or duties:
(i) a regulated health professional or a person who operates a group practice of regulated health professionals,
(ii) the Minister,
(iii) repealed 2012, c. 31, s. 1.
(iv) a health authority as defined in the Health Authorities Act,
(v) repealed 2014, c. 32, s. 151.
(vi) the Review Board under the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act,
(vii) a pharmacy licensed under the Pharmacy Act,
(viii) a continuing-care facility licensed by the Minister under the Homes for Special Care Act or a continuing-care facility approved by the Minister,
(ix) Canadian Blood Services,
(x) any other individual or organization or class of individual or class of organization as prescribed by regulation as a custodian;
The government of NS, through section 110 (1)(na) of PHIA (formerly of Bill 419) is circumventing describing the Health App Developer as a custodian by using the word “person” which is defined above as a corporation. If plain language was applied to section 110 (1)(na) this is what it would read as:
"s.110 (1)(na) requiring custodians and classes of custodians to disclose personal health information to the Minister or a corporation acting on behalf of the Minister for the purposes of planning and management of the health system, resource allocation and creating or maintaining content for any digital Health apps;"
How Can You Help?
We are looking for a group of custodians (Doctors, Chiropractors, Pharmacists etc...) as well as a group of everyday Nova Scotia residents to be the plaintiffs in this pro-bono Charter challenge against the Nova Scotia Government, led by the JCCF.
If you are against the current legislation as outlined above, and wish to help fight back by potentially becoming a plaintiff in this case, please fill out this form. All submissions will be passed on to the JCCF who will contact you directly to discuss next steps. Don't worry, filling out the form doesn't mean you are committing to anything, it just means you are interested and wish to discuss further. You can opt out at anytime.
At this time, we ask that you refrain from posting publicly/on social media about this case until we are ready to officially announce the application.
Would you like to help Citizens' Alliance in our work but are not currently interested in being a plaintiff in this specific case? Please consider making a donation. Every little bit helps.
Thank you for engaging in ongoing efforts to preserve freedom, privacy and human rights in Nova Scotia. If we band together, anything is possible! |
