DisclosureMedicalMTOApr_16

Press Releases 2008

For Immediate Release April 16, 2008

KLEES: Stop Government Collecting Personal Medical Information !

(Queen’s Park) Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees called on the Minister of Transportation to direct his Ministry to stop collecting the personal medical information of Ontarians without justifiable reason.

Klees raised the issue in the Legislature after media reports that Anna Medeiros received a notice that her driver's licence was suspended for medical reasons, even though she had never applied for one.

It was revealed that it is common practice for the Ministry to issue driver's licences to individuals and to then immediately suspend them, just so that they can create a file on that person for tracking purposes and for possible future use.

Klees, a former Minister of Transportation, stated that Ontario’s mandatory reporting regulations were never intended to apply to individuals who do not have a driver's licence and asked the minister to either immediately put a stop to the practice or at the very least refer the matter to the province's Privacy Commissioner.

"This is a serious breach of the right to privacy," said Klees. "The Ministry of Transportation should not be a repository of personal medical information for individuals who don't have a driver's licence and therefore have no reason for their personal information to be tracked by this Ministry. This "big brother" behaviour can have serious implications and should be stopped now.”

Klees will be asking Ontario's Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, to investigate.

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References:

Frank Klees, MPP

416 509 8999