Too many questions, too little time

After months of silence on the issue of BC OnLine, the Government of BC held a media conference late on a sunny Friday afternoon in Vancouver. The Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch was not informed in advance. The Law Society of BC was not informed in advance. The media, however, were provided a full briefing on the Information Technology Story of the Year: the Government was entering final negotiations with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates on a deal to provide BC with 2,500 potential new jobs and leadership in the information technology sector. The price to the province? The sale of BC OnLine.

BC OnLine, as most lawyers know, is the “electronic gateway” service that allows access to the Government’s major databases of information collected from the public and businesses of the province. It includes access to Land Titles, Corporate Records, BC Assessment Authority, Vital Statistics and at least 10 other databases. Seventy-percent of the usage of BC OnLine is done on behalf of lawyers and legal firms. If we apply rough math to that equation, lawyers and the clients we serve may account for up to $20 million per year in BC OnLine transactions. That makes us a significant stakeholder in this sale.

MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates intend to turn BC OnLine’s accessing software into an opportunity to become “a world class provider of information to business and other users”. Finance Minister Joy MacPhail heralds the potential sale as an opportunity for the private sector to develop and market BC OnLine “as the premier software package for accessing government data registries”. The deal will apparently be structured to ensure maximum financial return to the province, growth in jobs and technology, accessibility improvements and product innovations.

Sounds good.

Why, then, is the sale of BC OnLine such an issue of concern to the CBA? The answer lies in the fact that this is not solely an issue of growth in a potential new business sector. We all recognize that BC’s economy is unlikely to rebound on the basis of our traditional forestry, mining and fishing industries. We know from other jurisdictions that advanced technology can provide economic stimulus in the right circumstances. The problem is the lack of public policy discussion prior to the announcement of “final negotiations”--at an event with enough fanfare and media attention as to make a “no sale” option a rather difficult choice.

The BC Branch has consistently, both behind the scenes and in front, posed critical questions about how Government will protect the privacy and confidentiality of the citizens who are required to provide information to its databases, and protect access equity and fee level stability for BC OnLine users. We ensured that CBA representatives were involved in the review of critical components of the original Request For Proposals last year; we discussed the issue with the Attorney General and senior government bureaucrats; we have written to Andrew Petter, the Minister Responsible for the Information Science and Technology Agency, and to Joy MacPhail, Minister of Finance. The government has had almost a year to give us the reassurances we have been asking for, acknowledging its responsibility and accountability for the security and protection of private information and access to it. The last communication we received prior to the July 24th announcement was a polite letter from Deputy Minister Stuart Culbertson on March 27, thanking the CBA for our contribution.

The Government’s standard response to questions about privacy and confidentiality is to stress that the buyer of BC OnLine will be contractually bound by Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. What is not answered is exactly how adequate--or not--FOIPP legislation may be in dealing with the radical frontiers of today’s information technology. Tomorrow’s capabilities in terms of the kinds of information which can be accessed, the means by which they can be accessed, the individuals or entities which may be able to access them, and the way in which the information can be presented, are all uncharted and unknown at this stage.

Another important point to note: MacDonald Dettwiler is not acting alone in this deal. Full partners in the BC OnLine negotiations include the Royal Bank, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (Van City), Sierra Systems Consultants and CCNS Corporate Services. This list raises additional issues of concern regarding the influence of these partners (and the business interests they represent) on fee and product structuring, accessibility and new product development.

The Government is preparing to move ahead on an extraordinarily sensitive matter--private sector control of access to public sector information about the people and businesses of BC. We are not opposed to this sale in principle. However the government has not sufficiently addressed the public policy concerns raised by the CBA, Law Society and others, and seems intent on pushing forward with a deal designed to maximize economic benefit at all costs. We encourage everyone to ask their elected representatives--no matter their political stripe--to closely question this deal. This is the time to address issues of privacy, confidentiality and accessibility--before this sale is carved in stone.

This article was published in the August 1998 issue of BarTalk. © 1998 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.