BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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The Town of Strathmore is implementing clerical changes to better align with current provincial legislation.
During the April 1 council meeting, all three readings of the new Designated Officer Bylaw were passed unanimously.
“On June 11 of last year, the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) was replaced with the Access to Information Act and administration has been updating bylaws to reflect this new ATIA language,” said Veronica Anderson, legislative services officer. “The updated Designated Officer Bylaw does two things. It updates the definition section for ATIA, and it also incorporates the ATIA bylaw.”
The adoption of the new bylaw repeals the previous iteration, which was passed May 21, 2025, as well as the previous ATIA bylaw, also passed last year.
With the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) repealed by the province as of June 11, 2025, the previous designated officer bylaw was no longer in alignment with current provincial legislation.
The repeal came shortly following a report by Alberta’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, Diane McLeod, released a report alleging the province refused to process dozens of access requests by Alberta government public bodies.
McLeod, in the wake of the report, made several recommendations for the province to resolve the issues found and highlighted, expecting them to be taken into account in the passing of new legislation.
The province simultaneously introduced the new separated ATIA, and the Protection of Privacy Act (POPA), replacing FOIP in governing privacy standards within Alberta.
Clerically, references to FOIP have been removed throughout the town’s new bylaw where applicable and have been replaced with the new ATIA language.
The Designated Officer Bylaw serves as a document establishing the position and functions of the position bearing the same title.
A Designated Officer for a given municipality is defined by several positions, including the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), and aligns with the CAO Bylaw.
Additionally, the Director of Strategic, Administrative and Financial Services for the town is appointed as “Head” for the purpose of ATIA and POPA.
Other Designated Officer positions include the Community Protection Officer, and the Director of Community and Protective Services. The latter being directly supporting the duties and functions of the former.
Following Anderson’s presentation, the town moved to passing the three readings of the new bylaw as presented by administration without further discussion or debate.
Bylaw updates such as these tend to be common in order for the town to be in compliance with contemporary provincial legislation, as governed by the Municipal Government Act.
The Previous FOIP Act had been in effect in Alberta since October 1995 and was the first access and privacy law to be initiated in Alberta.
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