Great expectations

In the House on Thursday, Squeaky replied to questions about the latest crisis – with Oram and Wiseman out of the picture, it’s safe to use that word again – at Eastern Health:

MR. KENNEDY: One of the issues that we are dealing with in these privacy concerns, Mr. Speaker, is obviously the standardization of policies. That is certainly going to take time. What we saw yesterday was Eastern Health move quickly to move with the privacy breaches. We have the Personal Health Information Act, Mr. Speaker, which is expected to be proclaimed later this year, so this act will govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information in our Province.

“Expected to be proclaimed”?

You’d think that the good Minister might have a slightly clearer idea than that.

In any event, what on Danny’s Green Island is taking so long? The Act that Squeaky referred to was passed by the Bow-Wows on May 27, 2008, and was given Royal Assent on June 4th of that year.

That’s two sessions, and nearly two calendar years ago, in case you had lost track.

But, par for the course with the Procrastinating Conservatives, s. 96 of that Personal Health Information Act provides, “This Act or a Part or a section or a subsection of this Act shall come into force on a day or days to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.”

Enacted. Assented to, even. Comforting, no doubt, to the patients whose files were improperly viewed in the latest incident, to know that the law has been rubber-stamped by the sorriest little parliament in the Commonwealth and signed by the vice-regal hand.

But not yet given the force of, y’know, law.

No worries. Squeaky and crew will get around to it, they 'spect.