HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (LifeSiteNews) — The Nova Scotia Supreme Court will hear a legal challenge to a policy that grants the government access to the private medical records of citizens.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) lawyers appeared on September 2-3 before the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to fight amendments to Nova Scotia’s Personal Health Information Act (PHIA), which allows the government to access private medical records of citizens without their consent.
“Health care records contain among the most private and personal details of an individual’s life,” constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury said in a JCCF press release.
“They deserve the highest level of protection from the intrusion of the state. Consent of the patient must be required before a government can obtain the records of a physician or other health care provider. It is astonishing that consent is totally absent from the current regulatory regime,” he added.
“Allowing the Minister of Health and Wellness, a political officeholder, to access everyone’s medical records without consent sets a dangerous precedent, erodes trust in the healthcare system, and risks turning private health information into a political tool,” Fleury said.
In April 2024, Nova Scotia passed Bill 419, which amended the PHIA to weaken citizens privacy rights.
The new legislation allowed the Premier Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservative provincial government access to the private medical information of their citizens despite warnings from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia that it would undermine doctor-patient relationships.
The legislation, introduced by the minister of finance on March 5, is part of the Financial Measures Act. However, Nova Scotia doctors quickly pointed out a clause in the proposed legislation that seeks to amend the Personal Health Information Act.
Under the new changes, the minister of health and her department have increased access to the health records of Nova Scotians.
Clause 110 of the legislation allows the government to “make regulations requiring personal health information to be disclosed for the purpose of planning and management of the health system, resource allocation and creating or maintain(ing) electronic health record programs and services.”
Already, Canadians saw a massive breach of confidentiality during the COVID “pandemic” when citizens’ vaccination status could be demanded by restaurant owners or airline staff under government mandate.
Similar to the concerns of physicians, many members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) warned against the bill when it was debated in the legislature.
