Veterans' privacy audit report coming in 2012
By Laura Payton, CBC News
Posted: Nov 7, 2011 7:13 PM ET
Last Updated: Nov 8, 2011 12:19 AM ET
An audit into Veterans Affairs Canada and how it handles privacy issues will be released in early 2012, Canada's privacy commissioner said Monday.
The news came as a third veteran went public with complaints into the number of times civil servants accessed his file, and how his file was handled at the agency.
Sylvain Chartrand, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Bosnia, says his file was accessed more than 4,000 times between 2003 and 2010.
HIs complaint is similar to one by Sean Bruyea, another veteran who advocates for veterans' rights, and whose private medical information was shared with both Liberal and Conservative ministers of veterans affairs.
A statement by a spokeswoman for Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart says an audit into how Veterans Affairs handles private information is coming soon.
"We are currently conducting an audit of Veterans Affairs," Anne-Marie Hayden said. "It is examining, at a systemic level, the department’s personal information management practices and compliance with federal privacy legislation.
"As part of the audit, we are closely monitoring the progress of their implementation of our recommendations, resulting from the investigation of Veterans Affairs concluded in October 2010 ... We anticipate making the audit findings public in the winter of 2012."
Third privacy breach
Chartrand filed a complaint with the privacy commissioner in 2008 about an official at Veterans Affairs giving information to an official from the Department of National Defence.
Assistant Privacy Commissioner Chantal Bernier found the complaint was valid but didn't recommend any corrective action because the agency had already taken action, she said in a letter to Chartrand.
Chartrand and fellow veteran Dennis Manuge requested their records after hearing about Bruyea's case. They have all advocated for veterans rights.
Manuge, speaking to Evan Solomon on CBC Radio's The House, says records show civil servants in Victoria, Winnipeg and Mississauga, Ont., accessed his file, as well as a senior writer in the minister's office. He says he doesn't know why they would have needed access to a file containing his personal records.
Chartrand is now the third veteran to go public with privacy concerns, speaking to Solomon today on CBC's Power & Politics.
A statement by Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney says the government worked with Stoddart's office to strengthen its privacy rules.
"Our government will not tolerate any violation of veterans' privacy. That's why we took action a year ago to ensure strict disciplinary measures for those who violate the law, while strengthening access controls and monitoring," he said.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- 'Engine shutdown' forced Air Canada jet to land
- A Japan-bound Air Canada Boeing 777 jet had to make an emergency landing at Toronto's Pearson airport on Monday, after one of its engines failed. more »
- CP Rail union, Tories battle over collective bargaining
- The federal Conservatives defended their plan to force striking Canadian Pacific Railway employees back to work as a way to keep the economy on track, while the union representing 4,800 workers said their collective bargaining rights are under attack. more »
- Bullyproof: One classroom confession
- Chadia became physically scarred after incessant teasing. Her story is one of 150 gathered in a video confessional booth at a Quebec school. more »
- Missing Winnipeg kids found in Mexico are back with mom
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years are back home, reunited with their mother, after they were located in Mexico late last week. more »
Latest Canada News Headlines
- Wacky weather mix across Canada
- Canadians expecting a lovely spring day are getting more than they bargained for in many parts of the country today as weather forecasts look more like the dog days of summer or, in some cases, a winter freeze. more »
- Family of disabled mom killed in blast relieved at arrest
- The family of a disabled Alberta woman killed by an exploding package say they are relieved someone has been charged in her death. more »
- Missing Winnipeg kids found in Mexico are back with mom
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years are back home, reunited with their mother, after they were located in Mexico late last week. more »
- Quebec resumes talks with student leaders
- Negotiations between student leaders and Quebec's Liberal government resumed this afternoon in a third attempt to resolve the tuition crisis. more »
The National
The Current
- The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: John Coates May. 28, 2012 4:04 PM A stock-market trader turned neuroscientist maps the biological origins of booms and busts.
- Missing Winnipeg kids found in Mexico are back with mom
- 'Engine shutdown' forced Air Canada jet to land
- Canadian Everest climber's body recovered
- Thunder Bay flooding causes state of emergency
- Vatican denies cardinal suspected in leaks scandal
- Evolution skeptics will soon be silenced by science: Richard Leakey
- CP Rail union, Tories battle over collective bargaining
- Man, woman shot dead in Burnaby restaurant
- Wacky weather mix across Canada
