Comité des services communautaires et de protection

and Council / et au Conseil

3 January 2008 / le 3 janvier 2008

Submitted by/Soumis par : Steve Kanellakos

Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint,

Community and Protective Services/ Services communautaires et de protection

Contact Person/Personne ressource ; Susan Jones, Director

By-law and Regulatory Services/Service des reglements municipaux

(613) 580-2424 x25536, susan.jones@ottawa.ca

City-wide/ à l'échelle de la Ville

Ref N°: ACS2008-CPS-BYL-0005

SUBJECT:

LICENSING BY-LAW – SECOND-HAND GOODS SHOPS AND SALVAGE YARDS – AMENDMENTS – INFORMATION AND PRIVACY COMMISSIONER ORDER MO-2225

OBJET :

RÈGLEMENT SUR LES PERMIS – MAGASINS DE MARCHANDISES D’OCCASION ET PARCS DE RÉCUPÉRATION – MODIFICATIONS – ARRÊTÉ MO‑2225 DE LA COMMISSAIRE À L’INFORMATION ET À LA PROTECTION DE LA VIE PRIVÉE

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council approve amendments to Schedule 14 relating to Second-hand Good Shops and Schedule 15 relating to Salvage Yards of Licensing By-law 2002-189, as amended, to repeal certain provisions related to the collection and recording of personal information from customers.

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité des services communautaires et de protection recommande que le Conseil approuve les modifications à l’annexe 14 se rapportant aux magasins de marchandises d’occasion et à l’annexe 15 se rapportant aux parcs de récupération du règlement 2002‑189 sur les permis, avec ses modifications, visant à révoquer certaines dispositions relatives à la collecte et à l’enregistrement de renseignements personnels sur la clientèle.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report is in response to the September 11, 2007, Order MO-2225 of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) ruling that some provisions of Schedule 14 relating to Second-hand Goods Shops and Schedule 15 relating to Salvage Yards of the City’s Licensing By-law 2002-189 that require the collection, recording and production of personal information of customers by the shops contravene the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The report recommends the deletion of the offending provisions in accordance with the IPC Order. There are no financial implications related to the approval of this recommendation. A Notice of Public Meeting appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Sun and Le Droit on December 21 and 28, 2007, outlining the proposed recommendation, and inviting written comments. No objections were received.

RÉSUMÉ

Le présent rapport fait suite à l’arrêté MO‑2225 du 11 septembre 2007 de la Commissaire à l’information et à la protection de la vie privée de l’Ontario (CIPVP) jugeant que certaines dispositions contenues dans l’annexe 14 relatives aux magasins de marchandises d’occasion et dans l’annexe 15 relatives aux parcs de récupération du Règlement municipal sur les permis de 2002 qui exigent la collecte, l’enregistrement et la production de renseignements personnels de la clientèle par les magasins contreviennent à la Loi sur l’accès à l’information municipale et la protection de la vie privée. Le rapport recommande la suppression des dispositions offensantes conformément à l’arrêté de la CIPVP. L’approbation de cette recommandation n’entraîne pas de répercussions financières. Un avis d’assemblée publique a été publié dans l’Ottawa Citizen, l’Ottawa Sun et Le Droit les 21 et 28 décembre 2007, résumant la recommandation proposée et invitant les membres du public à soumettre leurs commentaires par écrit. Aucune opposition n’a été reçue.

BACKGROUND

On September 11, 2007, the IPC issued Order MO-2225. This Order directs the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Police to cease requiring that second-hand goods shops collect certain pieces of personal information from individuals selling used goods to the shops. In addition, the IPC’s Order requires that those pieces of personal information that had been previously collected by the shops under the City’s by-law be destroyed. This marks the first time the IPC of Ontario has issued a cease collection and destruction Order under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection Act, or its provincial counterpart.

The IPC found that the collection of personal information required by the by-law could not be justified under Section 28(2) of the Act, the section that establishes the conditions under which a municipality may collect, or require the collection of, personal information. The IPC also found that the requirement in the by-law that the shops transmit the personal information of sellers to the Police in an electronic format could not be justified under the Act since the transmission did not directly relate to a law enforcement requirement. In reaching its decision in Order MO-2225, the IPC considered the clear direction provided by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in the case Cash Converters Canada Inc. v Oshawa (City), (2007) O.J. No. 2613 (Cash Converters). In that recent case, the Court of Appeal declared that a City of Oshawa by-law regulating second-hand goods shops and requiring the collection of personal information was of no effect, because the collection of personal information under the by-law could not be justified under Section 28(2) of the Act and therefore was in contravention of the Act.

The complete Order MO-2225 is available on file with the City Clerk.

Community and Protective Services and the Ottawa Police Service are undertaking the necessary actions to comply with the Order’s various dispositions.

DISCUSSION

The portion of Order MO-2225 regarding the direction to cease the collection of personal information that is relevant to this recommendation states:

1. I order the City (of Ottawa) to take the necessary legal and administrative steps to ensure that the second-hand goods shops licensed under the (Licensing By-law 2002-189) By-law cease collecting personal information under sections 11, 12 and 13 of Schedule 14 of the By-law. At a minimum, this includes the City repealing or amending the By-law, and the City notifying the shops that they must cease collecting the personal information.

It should be noted that the IPC in Order MO-2225 has indicated that second-hand goods shops may continue to collect bare contact information of sellers if they require it for their business or other needs. From a licensing and regulatory point of view, however, staff cannot require shops to continue collecting the personal information of sellers, and therefore this continued collection of bare contact information would be up to the shops to regulate and would no longer be required under the City’s by-law if the staff recommendation is approved. The Canadian Pawnbrokers and Second-hand Dealers Association an umbrella group representing second-hand goods shop operators has indicated that the collection of personal information of clients will continue as a necessary part of doing business, regardless of the amendment to the City’s Licensing By-law.

Community and Protective Services recommends that Subsections 13(1)(b) and (c) of the Second-hand Goods Shops regulations and Subsections 9(1)(b) of the Salvage Yards regulations, which require the collection of personal information of sellers by the shops, be repealed as ordered by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario in Order MO-2225.

CONSULTATION

A Notice of Public Meeting appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Sun and Le Droit on December 21 and 28, 2007, outlining the proposed recommendation, inviting written comments and giving notice of the time, date and location at which the Community and Protective Services Committee will consider the recommendation. The notice also invites the public to present comments, objections or support at the Committee meeting in person should they wish to do so.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no financial implications related to the approval of the recommendation.

CITY STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS

This report has no direct impact on the City Strategic Directions.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1 – Order MO-2225, Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario (On file with the City Clerk’s Office).

DISPOSITION

Legal Services in consultation with By-law and Regulatory Services to process the amending By-law to Council for enactment.