Jun 3, 2015

Manitoba Ombudsman Charlene Paquin has released her office’s annual reports for the calendar year 2014, including a report under The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and The Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) and a separate report under The Ombudsman Act and The Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act (PIDA).

“In our annual reports to the legislature and to the public, we strive to capture the breadth of work carried out by my office,” says Paquin. “We also highlight issues that we believe, in sharing, will provide useful information to Manitobans.”

“We have seen an increase in inquiries and complaints as people continue to seek our assistance in resolving issues and concerns. In 2014, we initiated 368 new investigations under FIPPA and PHIA and 115 new investigations under The Ombudsman Act and PIDA.”

Highlights of the 2014 annual report under FIPPA and PHIA include:

• A discussion of access and privacy implications of public-private hybrid organizations with reference to two cases that we investigated in 2014.
• A discussion of a public body’s responsibility to respond to FIPPA requests fully and without delay and how public bodies should handle situations where records are found after the fact.
• A couple of case summaries related to access matters under PHIA, including response times for requests from hospital in-patients and the administrative fees charged by health facilities when they provide access to health records.
• An overview of the numerous ways in which we shared information about access and privacy rights and the work of the office in 2014.

Highlights of the 2014 annual report under The Ombudsman Act and PIDA include:

• Several case summaries that illustrate the variety of investigations conducted as a result of complaints about municipal and provincial matters.
• A discussion of our proposed amendments to PIDA.
• A report on the status of implementation of the 453 recommendations made by the children's advocate as a result of their child death special investigations.

Manitoba Ombudsman’s 2014 annual reports are available in print by contacting the office at ombudsman@ombudsman.mb.ca, 204-982-9130, 1-800-665-0531 (toll-free in Manitoba), or online at www.ombudsman.mb.ca.