On May 24, 2023, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Nunavut  (OIPC) issued its 2022-2023 Annual Report (the report). In particular, the report provides statistics on the types of filings that were made to the OIPC against public bodies. It also discusses the accomplishments and challenges faced, as well as its priorities for the coming years.

What were some of the accomplishments of the OIPC?

The OIPC noted the following accomplishments in the year of review:

• zero backlog of decisions compared to most other Canadian jurisdictions;
• good public response after appearing before the Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts (OGOPA);
• investigation of the Government's network Y-drive, and is currently working on the report; and
• access to information for municipalities no longer being on the agenda and showing no signs of being revived.

What were some of the challenges faced by the OIPC?

Furthermore, the OIPC noted that it faced and identified some challenges in the year of review, including:

• the OIPC was not yet consulted by the Legislative Assembly on the new Police Act as promised;
• some public bodies have not met the request deadlines set out in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPPA) due to a lack of capacity, causing fears that the ATIPPA may need to change to relax the deadlines; and
• prosecutions under Section 59 of the ATIPPA appear impossible as both the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) are doubtful that it is within their mandate.

What are the priorities of the OIPC for the next few years?

The Commissioner of the OIPC repeated his six priorities for the duration of his term in office, 2021–2026, including:

• running a high-functioning office that makes good decisions quickly;
• amending the ATIPPA to give the OIPC the power to order the disclosure of documents;
• reviewing the ATIPPA as it is no longer adequate to deal with modern government and modern technology;
• enacting health-specific information legislation as other Canadian jurisdictions have;
• gradually increasing the capacity of the office to handle increased workload as anticipated; and
• grooming his successor.

You can read the report here.