By Benson McCulloch

Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner wants power, resources

Dec 7, 2010 | 4:16 PM

Gary Dickson, Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner, says the provincial government should consider giving his office more power.

Dickson’s comments came the day after the release of a report which exposed a “baffling” privacy breach involving medical records being faxed to a Saskatoon business.

“Unlike my counterparts in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and PEI, I have no order-making power,” Dickson told News Talk Radio on Tuesday.

“We can kind of monitor it, track it, and I can talk about it in annual reports but I just don’t have any power to order any trustee to do anything or to stop doing something.”

“(Giving the privacy commissioner more power) is certainly something the Legislative Assembly should look at,” Dickson said.

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Dickson stopped short of outright calling for more authority.

“With the resources we have right now, we wouldn’t be able to do it,” said Dickson, who admits he’s overwhelmed.

“We have only three investigators, but we have a case-load of 300 investigations at any one time.”

Dickson, Saskatchewan’s first full time privacy commissioner, was first appointed in 2003. Last year, the government tapped Dickson for another five year term.