Statistics Act
Consolidated act- Citation
- S.N.W.T. 2019, c.12
- Source
- Unofficial consolidation PDF (justice.gov.nt.ca)
This is an unofficial reading copy parsed from the Department of Justice consolidation PDF above — itself an office consolidation, not an official statement of the law. The authoritative text is in the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1988 and the annual Statutes volumes.
The Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly, enacts as follows:
INTERPRETATION
Definitions
1.In this Act,
"Bureau" means the Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics established under section 3 of this Act; (Bureau)
"department" means a department as defined in subsection 1(1) of the Public Service Act; (ministère)
"public agency" means a public agency as defined in subsection 1(1) of the Financial Administration Act; (organisme public)
"public service" means the public service as defined in subsection 1(1) of the Public Service Act; (fonction publique)
"respondent" means a person, a department or public agency from whom information is sought under this Act; (répondant)
"Statistics Canada" means the statistics bureau referred to in the Statistics Act (Canada); (Statistique Canada)
"Territorial Statistician" means the person appointed by the Minister under section 4. (statisticien territorial)
Government bound
2.This Act and the regulations bind the Government of the Northwest Territories and public agencies.
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES BUREAU OF
STATISTICS
Establishment of Bureau
3.(1) The Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics is established within the public service.
(2) The Bureau, in carrying out its functions and purposes under this Act, is subject to the control and direction of, and is responsible to, the Minister.
(3) The Bureau may plan, promote and develop statistics relating to the Northwest Territories or the Government of the Northwest Territories and, in particular, may
(a) collect information, directly or indirectly, and compile, analyze, abstract and publish statistical information relating to the commercial, industrial, financial, social, economic, environmental and general activities and condition of the Northwest Territories and persons in the Northwest Territories;
(b) collaborate with or assist departments and public agencies in the collection, compilation and publication of statistical information, including statistics derived from the activities of those departments and public agencies; and
(c) promote the avoidance of duplication in the information collected by departments and public agencies.
PERSONNEL OF BUREAU
Territorial Statistician
4.(1) The Minister shall appoint a member of the public service as the Territorial Statistician, to perform duties and exercise powers under this Act.
(2) The Territorial Statistician shall, in addition to any other duties imposed under any other provision of this Act,
(a) decide, based strictly on professional statistical standards that the Territorial Statistician considers appropriate, the methods and procedures for carrying out statistical programs regarding
(i) the collection, compilation, analysis, abstraction and publication of statistical information that is produced or is to be produced by the Bureau,
(ii) the content of statistical releases and publications issued by the Bureau, and
(iii) the timing and methods of dissemination of statistics compiled by the Bureau;
(b) advise on matters pertaining to statistical programs of departments and public agencies, and confer with those departments and agencies to that end; and
(c) control the operations and staff of the Bureau.
Staff
5.(1) The Territorial Statistician may, in accordance with the Public Service Act, employ such clerical, technical, professional or other staff as may be required for the administration of this Act.
(2) The Minister may, for such periods as the Minister may determine, use the services of any employee in any department or public agency in the exercise or performance of any duty, power, or function by the Bureau under this Act, and any employee whose services are so used shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a person employed under this Act while his or her services are so used.
(3) The Territorial Statistician may engage any person under contract to perform services for the Territorial Statistician or the Bureau under this Act, and any person so engaged and the employees and agents of that person shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be engaged under this Act while performing those services.
Rules, instructions and requests for information
6.(1) The Territorial Statistician may make rules, instructions and requests for information that he or she considers necessary for conducting the work and business of the Bureau and the collecting, compiling and publishing of statistics and other information authorized by this Act.
(2) For greater certainty, any rule, instruction or request made under subsection (1) is not a regulation for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.
INFORMATION COLLECTION, USE AND
DISCLOSURE
Seeking information
7.A person who seeks information from a respondent under this Act shall, as appropriate, first give his or her name and title of office to the respondent and tell the respondent
(a) the purpose of the collection;
(b) whether the request is one that the respondent must comply with under section 14;
(c) whether the information collected from the respondent will be or might be shared pursuant to an agreement under section 12 or 13; and
(d) if the information collected from the respondent will be or might be shared pursuant to an agreement under section 13, of the respondent’s right to object to the sharing of the information.
Multi-occupant property
8.The owner or agent of the owner of a multi- occupant property shall provide access to the property, for the purpose of collecting any information or the exercising of any power or the performing of any duty under this Act.
Definition: "identifying information"
9.(1) In this section and sections 10 and 11, "identifying information" means any information that makes it possible to identify a person.
(2) Except as otherwise permitted by this section or for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act,
(a) only a person employed, engaged or contracted under this Act and exercising powers or performing duties under this Act may be permitted to examine any identifying information; and
(b) no person may disclose or knowingly cause to be disclosed, by any means, any information obtained under this Act in such a manner that it is possible, from any such disclosure, to discern any identifying information.
(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the Territorial Statistician may authorize
(a) the particulars of any information obtained in the course of administering this Act to be communicated to Statistics Canada under an agreement entered into under section 12;
(b) the particulars of any information collected under an agreement entered into under section 13 to be disclosed to a party to the agreement;
(c) the disclosure of information that was collected by respondents from other persons for the respondents’ own purposes and then disclosed to the Bureau, but such information
(i) must remain subject to the same confidentiality that the information was subject to when collected by the respondent, and
(ii) may only be disclosed by the Bureau in the manner and to the extent agreed upon by the respondent;
(d) the disclosure of information relating to a person or a person’s business, if the person consents to the disclosure; or
(e) the disclosure of information available to the general public from other sources.
(4) If the Territorial Statistician becomes aware of a disclosure of information not authorized by this Act, the Statistician shall notify the respondent from whom the information was obtained of the disclosure within a reasonable time.
(5) The Minister shall cause a copy of a written report, indicating the total number of unauthorized disclosures in a fiscal year, to be tabled before the Legislative Assembly not more than 90 days after the end of the fiscal year.
Information not to be used as evidence
10.(1) Except for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act, any information collected by the Bureau or the Territorial Statistician under this Act and any copy of the information in the possession of a respondent is privileged and shall not be used as evidence in any proceedings.
(2) Except for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act, a person shall not be required in any proceedings to give testimony or to produce any identifying information obtained from a respondent in the course of administering this Act.
(3) Subsection (1) applies in respect of any information that the Bureau is prohibited by this Act from disclosing or that may only be disclosed under an authorization made under subsection 9(3).
AGREEMENTS
Conditions to be included
11.An agreement entered into under section 13 must include conditions satisfactory to the Minister with respect to the following:
(a) the security and confidentiality of identifying information;
(b) the removal or destruction of individual identifiers at the earliest reasonable time;
(c) restrictions on the manner in which identifying information may be subsequently used or disclosed, including requirements respecting a respondent’s consent to subsequent use or disclosure where appropriate;
(d) the prohibition, where appropriate, of any subsequent use or disclosure of identifying information without the express authorization of the Minister.
Agreements with Statistics Canada
12.(1) The Bureau may enter into agreements with Statistics Canada
(a) for the sharing of replies to any specific statistical inquiries;
(b) for the sharing of replies to any specific classes of information collected under this Act;
(c) for the sharing of any tabulations or analyses based on replies referred to in paragraphs (a) or (b), or both;
(d) for the collection of information jointly with Statistics Canada, or on its behalf, and for the sharing of that information with it and for subsequent tabulation or publication based on that information; or
(e) for the sharing of any information obtained by the Bureau under this Act.
(2) Except in respect of information described in subsection 9(3), no agreement made under this section applies to any reply made to or information collected by the Bureau before the date that the agreement was made or is to have effect, whichever is the later date.
Agreements with other organizations
13.(1) The Bureau may, on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories, enter into agreements with a department or public agency, the Government of Canada, the government of a province or another territory, a municipality, an Aboriginal government, a corporation, or any other organization whether incorporated or not, for
(a) the collection of information, jointly or on that organization’s behalf;
(b) the sharing of that information with that organization; or
(c) the subsequent tabulation of that information or publication derived from that information.
(2) An agreement entered into under subsection (1) must provide that
(a) the respondent shall be informed that the information is being collected jointly on behalf of the Bureau and the other organization by a notice to that effect; and
(b) when the respondent gives notice to the Territorial Statistician that the respondent objects to the sharing of the information under paragraph (1)(b), the information will not be shared unless the organization is authorized by law to require the respondent to provide that information.
(3) The sharing of information under an agreement under this section may, subject to subsection (2), include replies to original inquiries and supplementary information provided by a respondent to the Bureau and the other party to the agreement.
(4) For greater certainty, this section does not apply
(a) to an agreement with Statistics Canada; or
(b) where an enactment compels the sharing of information.
Declaring whether reply mandatory
14.(1) If the Territorial Statistician believes on reasonable grounds that a mandatory response to the Bureau is necessary to ensure the reliability of the statistics produced, the Territorial Statistician may declare that all respondents must comply with a request for information under this Act.
(2) A respondent is not required to reply to a request for information under this Act unless the Territorial Statistician has declared that all respondents shall comply with the request.
OFFENCES
Failure to respond
15.(1) If the Territorial Statistician has declared under section 14 that all respondents shall comply with a request for information under this Act, a respondent who fails to comply with the request within the time and in the form required by the Territorial Statistician commits an offence.
(2) A respondent who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $200.
Violation of certain sections
16.Every person who does any of the following, is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000:
(a) wilfully makes a false declaration, statement or return in the performance of duties or exercise of powers under this Act;
(b) in the pretended performance of his or her duties, obtains or seeks to obtain information that the person is not duly authorized to obtain;
(c) violates paragraph 9(2)(b);
(d) wilfully discloses to any person not entitled to receive it under this Act, any information the person obtained in the course of the person’s employment that might exert an influence upon or affect the market value of any stocks, bonds, or other security, or any product or article;
(e) uses any such information for the purpose of speculating in any stocks, bonds or other security or other item.
False presentation
17.Every person who falsely represents himself or herself to be making an inquiry under the authority of this Act or under the authority of the Minister or Territorial Statistician, is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
CONFLICTS
Conflict or inconsistency
18.If a provision of this Act is inconsistent with or in conflict with the provision of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act or the Health Information Act, this Act prevails notwithstanding that other Act.