BILL 47

An Act to Amend the Family Services Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

1 Section 11 of the Family Services Act, chapter F-2.2 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 1980, is amended

(a)  by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following:

11(1) All information acquired by the Minister or another person in relation to any person or matter under this Act, whether of a documentary nature or otherwise, is confidential to the extent that its release would tend to reveal personal information about a person identifiable from the release of the information.

(b)  by repealing subsection (2) and substituting the following:

11(2) The Minister shall not permit the release of confidential information to any person without the written consent of the person from whom the information was obtained and the person to whom the information relates.

(c)  by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following:

11(3) Despite subsection (2), the Minister may permit the release of confidential information without the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained or the person to whom the information relates

(a)  to another Minister of the Crown or his or her servant,

(b)  to a person or persons appointed by the Minister

(i) to review the circumstances surrounding the death of a child under the age of majority who was in the care of the Minister under Part IV or who was known to the child protection system in the 12 months before the child’s death, and

(ii) to make recommendations to the Minister as a result of that review to enable the Minister to improve the manner in which the Minister exercises his or her powers, duties, authority or functions under this Act and the regulations under this Act in relation to children who are in the care of the Minister under Part IV or who are known to the child protection system,

(c)  to protect the health, safety and security of a person, or

(d)  if the release is otherwise provided for under this Act.

(d)  in subsection (4) by striking out “without the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained and to whom the information relates” and substituting “without the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained and the person to whom the information relates”;

(e)  in subsection (5) by striking out “without the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained and to whom the information relates” and substituting “without the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained and the person to whom the information relates”;

(f)  in subsection (6) by striking out “without the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained and to whom the information relates” and substituting “without the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained and the person to whom the information relates”.

2 The Act is amended by adding after section 11.2 the following:

11.3 If a provision of this Act is inconsistent with or in conflict with a provision of the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, this Act prevails.