AUDITOR GENERAL

I understand from a newspaper article (The Province, August 27, 2010 pg. A10) that Auditor General John Doyle is in trouble with the politicians. There seems to be a conflict regarding who he works for – the politicians or the people. Fortunately, he believes that he works for the people and keeps doing his job and exposing wrong-doings of the politicians, including the violation of privacy rights. I hope he continues and doesn’t bend to political pressure.

There is a question I have regarding his report on the hospital database audit. Mr. Doyle’s report says that so many people were accessing patient information that it was impossible to sort out who was accessing the information. Doesn’t the CEO, Dr. David Ostrow, know who his suppliers are and which were accessing patient information? Doesn’t the CEO, Dr. David Ostrow, know who was allowed into the “business room” to plug their computers in the database and whose information they downloaded or was this available to anyone walking in off the street, no questions asked?

Madam Justice L’Heureux, of the Supreme Court of Canada, – Dube in R.V. O’Connor stated:
“Respect for individual privacy is an essential component of what it means to be free…When a private document or record is revealed the invasion is not with respect to the particular document or record in question. Rather, it is an invasion of the dignity and self-worth of the individual, who enjoys the right to privacy as an essential aspect of his or her liberty in a free and democratic society.” – R.v O’Connor [1995] 4 S.C.R. 411 at paras. 114, 119 – pg. 17
So, when someone violates your privacy rights they are also destroying your freedom and democracy.
We appear to have a segregated society in B.C., those whose privacy rights are respected in word and in action, and the rest of us whose privacy rights exist only on paper. Which group are you in??