HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Part 1 — Child, Family and Community Service Act Amendments

1 Section 79 of the Child, Family and Community Service Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 46, is amended by adding the following paragraphs:

(g.1) necessary to conduct a review under section 93.2,

(g.2) made in order to release a report, or part of a report, finalized under section 93.2 (2) (b), in accordance with a regulation made under section 103 (2) (r.1) (ii), .

2 Section 91 (1) (a) is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) any or all of the provisions of this Act, or .

3 Section 93 (3) and (4) is repealed.

4 The following sections are added:

Administrative reviews

93.1  A director must, in accordance with the regulations,

(a) establish an administrative procedure for reviewing the exercise of a director's powers, duties and functions under this Act, and

(b) ensure that information about the administrative review procedure is available to any person on request.

Reviews relating to services

93.2  (1) Subject to the regulations and in accordance with subsection (3), a director may conduct a review on any matter relating to the provision of a service under this Act for any of the following purposes:

(a) to monitor a director's performance in the provision of the service;

(b) to monitor the performance of any person or agency in the provision of the service;

(c) to improve the provision of the service;

(d) for public accountability.

(2) If a director conducts a review under subsection (1),

(a) the director must prepare a written report of the review,

(b) a director must finalize the report prepared under paragraph (a) of this subsection, and

(c) the review is not complete until the report is finalized under paragraph (b).

(3) Respecting reviews under subsection (1), a director may establish

(a) different types of reviews for different types of matters, and

(b) different processes, time limits and types of reports for different types of reviews.

5 Section 101.1 is amended

(a) in subsections (1) (a) and (2) (a) by striking out "the procedure established under section 93 (3)," and substituting "the administrative procedure established under section 93.1,", and

(b) in subsections (1) (b) and (2) (b) by striking out "section 93 (3) or (4)" and substituting "section 93.1 or 93.2".

6 Section 103 (2) is amended

(a) in paragraph (r) by striking out "section 93 (3)" and substituting "section 93.1", and

(b) by repealing paragraph (r.1) and substituting the following:

(r.1) respecting reviews conducted, and reports prepared and finalized, under section 93.2, including, without limiting this,

(i) specifying the criteria a director must apply in exercising his or her discretion to conduct a review, and

(ii) specifying the criteria, rules or requirements that must be applied or followed by a director for the purposes of releasing a finalized report or part of a finalized report under section 79 (g.2); .

Part 2 — Representative for Children and Youth Act Amendments

7 Section 1 of the Representative for Children and Youth Act, S.B.C. 2006, c. 29, is amended

(a) in the definition of "designated services" by striking out "provided or funded by the government for children and their families:" and substituting "for children and their families provided under an enactment or provided or funded by the government:",

(b) in paragraph (b) of the definition of "designated services" by adding "child" before "care services",

(c) in the definition of "director" by striking out "the Adoption Act or",

(d) in the definition of "personal information" by adding ", but includes contact information as defined in that Act" after "the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act", and

(e) in the definition of "reviewable services" by adding the following paragraph:

(b.1) addiction services for children; .

8 The heading to Part 3 is repealed and the following substituted:

Part 3 — Representative's Functions and General Powers .

9 Section 6 is repealed and the following substituted:

Functions of representative

6  The representative is responsible for performing the following functions in accordance with this Act:

(a) support, assist, inform and advise children and their families respecting designated services, which activities include, without limitation,

(i) providing information and advice to children and their families about how to effectively access designated services and how to become effective self-advocates with respect to those services,

(ii) advocating on behalf of a child receiving or eligible to receive a designated service, and

(iii) supporting, promoting in communities and commenting publicly on advocacy services for children and their families with respect to designated services;

(b) monitor, review, audit and conduct research on the provision of a designated service by a public body or director for the purpose of making recommendations to improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of that service, and comment publicly on any of these functions;

(c) review, investigate and report on the critical injuries and deaths of children as set out in Part 4;

(d) perform any other prescribed functions.

10 Section 10 is repealed and the following substituted:

Right to information

10  (1) In this section, "officer of the Legislature" has the same meaning as in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, but does not include the representative.

(2) The representative has the right to any information that

(a) is in the custody or control of

(i) a public body other than an officer of the Legislature, or

(ii) a director, and

(b) is necessary to enable the representative to exercise his or her powers or perform his or her functions or duties under this Act.

(3) The public body or director must disclose to the representative the information to which the representative is entitled under subsection (2).

(4) This section applies despite

(a) any claim of confidentiality or privilege, other than a claim based on solicitor-client privilege, and

(b) any other enactment, other than a restriction in section 51 of the Evidence Act.

11 Section 11 is amended

(a) in subsections (1) and (2) by striking out "ministry or other" wherever it appears,

(b) in subsection (1) by striking out "for review." and substituting "for a review under subsection (3).", and

(c) in subsection (3) by striking out "trends to inform improvements to reviewable services or broader public" and substituting "trends to improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of a reviewable service or to inform improvements to broader public".

12 Section 12 is amended

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

(a) a reviewable service, or the policies or practices of a public body or director, may have contributed to the critical injury or death, and , and

(b) by adding the following subsection:

(4) If the representative decides to investigate the critical injury or death of a child under this section, the representative must notify

(a) the public body, or the director, responsible for the provision of the reviewable service, or for the policies or practices, that may have contributed to the critical injury or death, and

(b) any other person the representative considers appropriate to notify in the circumstances.

13 Section 13 is amended

(a) in paragraph (a) by striking out "death, and" and substituting "death of the child,", and

(b) by repealing paragraph (b) and substituting the following:

(b) if a coroner investigates or conducts an inquiry into the death of the child, until the earliest of

(i) the date on which a signed statement is sent to the chief coroner in accordance with section 17 (1) (a) of the Coroners Act respecting the investigation,

(ii) the date on which a report is forwarded to the chief coroner in accordance with section 20 (4) (b) of the Coroners Act respecting the inquiry,

(iii) the date on which the first person is summoned under section 29 (2) of the Coroners Act to serve as a juror on an inquest respecting the death of the child, and

(iv) one year after the death of the child, and

(c) if a public body, or a director, responsible for the provision of a reviewable service has, at the time of the critical injury or death of the child, written procedures in place for investigating critical injuries or deaths and the public body or director investigates the critical injury or death of the child, until the earlier of

(i) the completion of the investigation, and

(ii) one year after the critical injury or death of the child.

14 The following section is added:

Consultation, disclosure and recommendations

15.1  (1) At any time during or after an investigation under section 12, the representative may consult with a public body, director or person the representative considers appropriate in relation to the critical injury or death of the child.

(2) If during an investigation under section 12 the representative receives a request for consultation from a public body or director, the representative must consult with the public body or director in relation to the critical injury or death of the child.

(3) If consulting with a public body, director or person under this section, the representative may

(a) disclose to the public body, director or person the personal information the representative considers necessary and appropriate, and

(b) make recommendations to the public body or director, or to another public body or director, to improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of a reviewable service.

15 Section 16 is amended

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

(b) the public body, or the director, responsible for the provision of a reviewable service that is a subject of the report; ,

(b) in subsection (2) (c) by striking out "any other ministry, public body or person" and substituting "any other public body, director or person", and

(c) by repealing subsections (4) to (8) and substituting the following:

(4) A report made under subsection (3) must contain the representative's reasons for undertaking the investigation and may contain the following:

(a) recommendations for

(i) the public body, or the director, responsible for the provision of a reviewable service that is a subject of the report, or

(ii) any other public body, director or person that the representative considers appropriate;

(b) personal information, if, in the opinion of the representative,

(i) the disclosure is necessary to support the findings and recommendations contained in the report, and

(ii) the public interest in the disclosure outweighs the privacy interests of the individual whose personal information is disclosed in the report;

(c) any other matters the representative considers relevant.

(5) A report made under subsection (3) may be provided to any person that the representative considers appropriate and must be provided to

(a) the standing committee,

(b) the public body, or the director, responsible for the provision of a reviewable service that is a subject of the report, and

(c) the public body, or the director, that is a subject of recommendations in the report, if not already provided the report under paragraph (b).

16 Sections 17 (1) and 18 (2) are amended by striking out "2007/2008" and substituting "2008/2009".

17 Section 19 (1) is amended

(a) by striking out "2008" and substituting "2009", and

(b) by repealing paragraph (a) and substituting the following:

(a) the representative's work with aboriginal children and their families,

(a.1) the other work of the representative, and .

18 Section 20 (2) (a) and (b) is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) recommendations for

(i) the public body, or the director, responsible for the provision of a designated service, or

(ii) any other public body or director the representative considers appropriate;

(b) a report on the level of compliance with previous recommendations made by the representative under this Act to

(i) the public body, or the director, responsible for the provision of a designated service, or

(ii) any other public body or director;

(b.1) a report on the provision of a designated service for children in different geographic, racial, cultural or religious communities of British Columbia; .

19 Section 22 is repealed and the following substituted:

Agreements

22  The representative may enter into an agreement for the purpose of exercising the powers and performing the functions and duties under this Act.

20 Section 23 (4) is amended by striking out "must, subject to this Act, maintain confidentiality" and substituting "must, except as specifically authorized under this Act, maintain confidentiality".

21 Section 24 is repealed and the following substituted:

Privileges respecting communications and information

24  A person has the same privileges in relation to giving information, answering questions or producing documents or things to the representative, or to a person appointed, employed or retained under section 7 (1) or (4), relating to a review or an investigation under Part 4 as the person would have with respect to a proceeding in a court.

22 Section 29 (2) (f) is repealed.

23 Section 30 is amended

(a) by striking out "whether the role and functions" and substituting "whether the functions", and

(b) by striking out "coming into force of this Act," and substituting "coming into force of section 6,".

24 The following Part is added:

Part 6 — Transitional Provisions

Transfer of records

30.1  (1) On the repeal of the Office for Children and Youth Act, all records obtained under that Act must be transferred to the representative, including, but not limited to, all records originally produced under the Child, Youth and Family Advocacy Act or the Children's Commission Act.

(2) On the effective date of a transfer under subsection (1),

(a) the records cease to be the records of the transferor and become the records of the transferee, and

(b) the confidentiality provisions of this Act apply to the transferred records.

Part 3 — Consequential Amendments

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

25 Schedule 2 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 165, is amended by adding the following:

Public Service Labour Relations Act

26 Section 1 (1) of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 388, is amended in the definition of "employee" by adding the following:

(ff) a member of the staff of the Representative for Children and Youth; .

Commencement

27  The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, section 79] adds the following to the list of purposes in respect of which a director may disclose information obtained under the Act, without the consent of any person:

• if the disclosure is necessary to conduct a review under section 93.2 of the Act;
• if the disclosure is made in order to release a finalized report, or part of a finalized report, in accordance with a regulation made under section 103 (2) (r.1) (ii) of the Act which specifies the criteria, rules or requirements that must be applied or followed for the purposes of releasing the report.

SECTION 2: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, section 91] allows the minister to designate one or more persons as directors for the purposes of any or all of the provisions of the Act.

SECTION 3: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, section 93] repeals section 93 (3) and (4) of the Act and moves the content to sections 93.1 and 93.2 of the Act, respectively.

SECTION 4: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, sections 93.1 and 93.2]

• differentiates a review under section 93.1 of the Act from a review under section 93.2 of the Act by clarifying that reviews under section 93.1 use an administrative procedure and reviews under section 93.2 relate to the provision of a service under the Act;
• sets out, respecting section 93.2 of the Act, that
• a director may conduct a review for the purposes listed, subject to the regulations and in accordance with subsection (3) of that section,
• the director who conducts the review must prepare a written report of the review,
• the report must be finalized by a director,
• a review is not complete until the report is finalized, and
• a director may establish different types of reviews for different matters, and different processes, time limits and types of reports for different types of reviews.

SECTION 5: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, section 101.1] is consequential to sections 93.1 and 93.2 of the Act as added by this Bill.

SECTION 6: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, section 103]

• is consequential to section 93.1 of the Act as added by this Bill;
• provides for the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations respecting reviews conducted, and reports prepared and finalized, under section 93.2 of the Act, including
• specifying the criteria a director must apply in conducting a review, and
• specifying the criteria, rules or requirements a director must apply or follow for the purposes of releasing a finalized report or part of a finalized report.

SECTION 7: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 1]

(a) includes, in the definition of "designated services", services or programs listed in that definition that are provided under an enactment but may be provided or funded by an entity other than the government,

(b) clarifies that "care services" means child care services,

(c) removes directors of adoption from the definition of "director",

(d) clarifies that contact information as defined in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is included in the definition of "personal information" in the Representative for Children and Youth Act, and

(e) adds to the definition of "reviewable services" a reference to addiction services for children, to enable the representative to review the critical injury or death of a child receiving those services.

SECTION 8: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, Part 3 heading] is consequential to the changes to section 6 of the Act, as enacted by this Bill.

SECTION 9: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 6] simplifies the description of the functions of the representative.

SECTION 10: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 10] clarifies that the representative is not entitled to information in the custody or control of an officer of the Legislature nor to information that is protected under section 51 of the Evidence Act.

SECTION 11: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 11]

(a) removes references to "ministry", since a ministry is a public body,

(b) clarifies that the reference to "review" means a review under
section 11 (3) of the Act, and

(c) makes the language consistent with section 6 of the Act, as enacted by this Bill.

SECTION 12: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 12]

(a) removes references to "ministry", since a ministry is a public body, and clarifies that the representative may investigate the critical injury or death of a child if any reviewable service, not just the reviewable service that is the subject of a report under section 11 of the Act, or the policies or practices of any public body or director, not just the policies or practices of a public body responsible for the provision of the reviewable service that is the subject of a report under section 11 of the Act, may have contributed to the critical injury or death of the child, and

(b) requires that, if the representative decides to investigate the critical injury or death of a child, the representative notify the public body, or director, responsible for the provision of the reviewable service, or for the policies or practices, that may have contributed to the critical injury or death of the child, and notify any other person the representative considers appropriate.

SECTION 13: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 13] clarifies that the representative is not authorized to investigate the critical injury or death of a child until the earlier of one year after the critical injury or death and the following:

• the completion of a coroner's investigation, inquiry or inquest into the death of the child;
• the completion of an investigation into the critical injury or death of the child by the public body, or the director, responsible for the provision of a reviewable service if, at the time of the critical injury or death, the public body or director had written procedures in place for such investigations and the public body or director began such an investigation.

SECTION 14: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 15.1]

• authorizes the representative to consult with a public body, a director or an appropriate person at any time during or after an investigation under section 12 of the Act in relation to the critical injury or death of the child;
• requires the representative, during an investigation under section 12 of the Act, to consult with a public body or director who requests it in relation to the critical injury or death of the child;
• authorizes the representative to disclose personal information to the public body, director or appropriate person with whom the director is consulting if the director considers it necessary and appropriate to do so;
• authorizes the representative to make recommendations to the public body or director with whom the representative is consulting, or to another public body or director, to improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of a reviewable service.

SECTION 15: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 16]

• removes references to "ministry", since a ministry is a public body;
• adds references to "director" so that
• the representative must provide a report made under section 16 (1) of the Act to the director responsible for the provision of a reviewable service that is a subject of the report or to any other director the representative considers appropriate, and
• a report made under section 16 (3) of the Act may contain recommendations for the director responsible for the provision of a reviewable service that is a subject of the report or for any other director the representative considers appropriate;
• simplifies the list of persons who may receive and who must receive a report made under section 16 (3) of the Act;
• changes the test for disclosing personal information in a report made under section 16 (3) of the Act and authorizes the disclosure if
• it is necessary to support the findings and recommendations in the report, and
• the public interest in the disclosure outweighs the privacy interests of the person whose personal information is disclosed;
• removes the requirement that persons provided a report under section 16 (3) of the Act must keep the report confidential.

SECTION 16: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, sections 17 and 18] changes the fiscal year, from 2007/2008 to 2008/2009, in which the representative must begin annually to do the following:

• prepare a service plan;
• for appropriation purposes, present to the standing committee an estimate of the resources the representative needs to function.

SECTION 17: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 19]

(a) changes, from 2008 to 2009, the year in which the representative must begin to report annually to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and

(b) requires that annual report to include a report on the representative's work with aboriginal children and their families.

SECTION 18: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 20]

• removes references to "ministry", since a ministry is a public body;
• adds references to "director" so that a report made under section 20 (1) of the Act may contain
• recommendations for the director responsible for the provision of a designated service or for any other director the representative considers appropriate, and
• a report on the level of compliance with previous recommendations made by the representative to the director responsible for the provision of a designated service or to any other director;
• provides that a report made under section 20 (1) of the Act may contain a report on the provision of a designated service as it affects children in British Columbia who belong to different geographic, racial, cultural and religious communities.

SECTION 19: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 22] repeals the provisions relating to information-sharing agreements while restating the representative's general authority for making agreements.

SECTION 20: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 23] strengthens the language to clarify that, unless there are specific words to the contrary in the Act, the representative, and any persons employed or retained by the representative, must keep confidential all information coming to their knowledge in the course of exercising their powers or performing their functions and duties under the Act.

SECTION 21: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 24] clarifies that a person has the same privileges in relation to providing information, answering questions or producing documents or things relating to a review or an investigation under Part 4 of the Act as the person would have with respect to a proceeding in a court.

SECTION 22: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 29] is consequential to the changes to section 22 of the Act enacted by this Bill.

SECTION 23: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, section 30]

(a) is consequential to the changes to section 6 of the Act enacted by this Bill, and

(b) clarifies that the review of the Act or portions of the Act is to take place within 5 years of the coming into force of section 6 of the Act.

SECTION 24: [Representative for Children and Youth Act, Part 6] provides for the transfer to the representative of all records obtained under the Office for Children and Youth Act on its repeal, regardless of the origins of the records, and states that the confidentiality provisions of the Representative for Children and Youth Act apply to the transferred records.

SECTION 25: [Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Schedule 2] adds the Office of the Representative for Children and Youth as a public body and the representative as the head of that public body.

SECTION 26: [Public Service Labour Relations Act, section 1] excludes the representative's staff from the definition of "employee" in the Public Service Labour Relations Act.