For Release June 26, 2003

Manitoba Ombudsman posts selected case summaries on web site

Winnipeg – As of June 26, 2003, the Office of the Ombudsman is placing summaries of selected access and privacy cases on the Office’s web site, which can be found at www.ombudsman.mb.ca.

Previously, selected case summaries relating to The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), The Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) and access and privacy cases reviewed under The Ombudsman Act were published in the Ombudsman’s Annual Report on Access and Privacy.

Certain cases are selected for particular reasons, for example because they are instructive, timely, representative, relevant to all public bodies and/or trustees, issues of first instance, the subject of the Ombudsman’s recommendations, or reflective of the office’s comments on principles, provisions or the spirit of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), The Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) and access and privacy cases reviewed under The Ombudsman Act.

Cases will be placed on line periodically. The following new case summaries have been posted on our web site:

FIPPA ACCESS

2001-107
“Public” Works!
FIPPA – Access (refusal) – Rural Municipality of St. Clements

2001-041
Conflicting Provisions: CFSA Prevails Over FIPPA
FIPPA – Access (conflict with another act) – Winnipeg Child and Family Services

2001-040
No Wavering Permitted
FIPPA – Access (fee waiver) – Transcona-Springfield School Division

FIPPA PRIVACY

2001-036
Renouncing a SIN
FIPPA – Privacy (use) – City of Winnipeg

2001- 035
Too Collegial
FIPPA – Privacy (disclosure, notice) – University of Manitoba

PHIA ACCESS

2000-209
Nursing Names
PHIA – Access (refusal) – Grace General Hospital

PHIA PRIVACY

No new cases in this posting

We hope that for most individuals, public bodies and trustees, this new format for publishing selected case summaries will be more timely, more broadly available, more cost effective and more convenient than the inclusion of selected case summaries in our annual reports. For those without access to the Internet, hard copies of our selected case summaries can be obtained in person or by fax or mail from our office:

Ombudsman Manitoba
750-500 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3X1
Telephone: (204) 982-9130
Toll Free in Manitoba: 1-800-665-0531
Fax: (204) 942-7803