GOVERNMENT & INFORMATION POLICY FACT SHEET


Information policy determines the kind of information collected, created, organized, stored, accessed, disseminated and retained. Who can use the information, whether there will be charges for access, and the amount charged, is also covered. Usually associated with government information, information policy also establishes the rules within which private information providers and the media operate.

Canadian governments have significant powers in the area of information policy as parliament passes laws and creates regulatory bodies to manage issues such as: protection of personal privacy, privatization and distribution of government information, freedom of information access, copyright, literacy, telecommunications and broadcasting.

This fact sheet highlights the basic laws and government bodies which control or influence the development of information policy in British Columbia and Canada.


FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

LEGISLATION

MINISTRIES, TRIBUNALS & REGULATORY BODIES

INFORMATION PROVIDERS


PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

LEGISLATION

MINISTRIES, TRIBUNALS & REGULATORY BODIES

INFORMATION PROVIDERS


WHAT YOU CAN DO

About Information Access Procedures, Contact:

About the Act, Contact:


FEDERAL PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS

PROVINCIAL PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS

MUNICIPAL PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS

OTHER ELECTRONIC RESOURCES


BIBLIOGRAPHY

British Columbia Directory of Records, 1994. 3 vols. Victoria: Ministry of Government Services, Information and Privacy Branch, 1994.

Canada. Information Highway Advisory Council. Access, Affordability and Universal Service on the Canadian Information Highway. Ottawa: Ministry of Supply and Services, 1995.

Companion Guide to the British Columbia Directory of Records, 1994. Victoria: Ministry or Government Services, Information and Privacy Branch, 1994.

Connection Community Content: The Challenge of the Information Highway: Final Report of the Information Highway Advisory Council. Ottawa: Industry Canada, 1995.

The Extension of Citizens' Information and Privacy Rights to All Public Bodies in British Columbia. Victoria: Ministry of Attorney General, 1993.

Information and Privacy Handbook: An Interpretive Guide to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. 2nd ed. Victoria: Ministry of Government Services, 1995.

Information Rights for British Columbia: Recommendations for Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Legislation for British Columbia. Vancouver: BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, 1991.

Info Source: Guide to Sources of Federal Government Information, 1993-94. Ottawa: Treasury Board Secretariat, Administrative Policy Branch, Information Management Practices, 1993.

Mitchell, Heather and Murray T. Rankin. Using the Access to Information Act: How to Cut Through Government Bureaucracy. Vancouver: International Self-Counsel Press, 1984.

Questions & Answers About Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection. Vancouver: Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, 1991.

The Privacy Handbook: A Practical Guide to Your Privacy Rights in British Columbia and How to Protect Them. Vancouver: BC Civil Liberties Association and BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, 1994.


This page last updated 31 January 1996.

Copyright © 1995 BCLA Information Policy Committee

Back to Information Policy Home Page