Sask. privacy commissioner says he should have power to make government release info

Saskatchewan's privacy czar says his office should be given the power to force government agencies to release information in an overdue update to the province's transparency laws.    CBC News spoke to information and privacy commissioner Ron Kruzeniski after publishing a story revealing the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) refused to release a former CEO's resignation letter against Kruzeniski's advice. 

Kruzeniski said he doesn't comment on individual cases, but that he believes the province's access to information legislation is in dire need of a makeover to prevent it from stifling the public's right to know. 

"The broader issue is: is it time to think about modernizing the legislation? And I do believe it is," Kruzeniski said. 

Access to information laws allow any member of the public to request government records, within certain exemptions. 

But Saskatchewan's laws put government agencies themselves in charge of what they ultimately disclose.

Kruzeniski's office can review requests and make recommendations, but he has no power to force agencies to release information and they face no penalty for refusing to do so. 

In December 2021, CBC Saskatchewan filed a request for documents related to the sudden departure of SHA CEO Scott Livingstone, including his resignation letter. The SHA refused to release it. 

Kruzeniski, in a review, said Livingstone's right to privacy was outweighed by public interest in the matter and that the SHA didn't follow the law.

But the SHA ignored his recommendation and withheld the letter anyway, saying it disagreed. The process took nearly two years.

At that point, an applicant's only option is to go to court, something Kruzeniski said takes months and usually costs between $15,000 and $20,000.  

Emily Eaton, a professor at the University of Regina, ended up taking that route after her own school refused to release records about how oil companies were funding academic research.

Eaton ended up winning her case with the help of more than $12,000 she crowdfunded. She said she had the advantage of being a media savvy academic whose case had already received national media attention.

"A private citizen is not going to have access to those same things," Eaton said. "It effectively sort of renders the power of the legislation null if an authority can just simply say they don't agree with the expert's interpretation of the law."

Government spokeswoman Ariane Whiting said the province is not considering any changes at this time. She said Saskatchewan's system is similar to other provinces, like New Brunswick.