DOCUMENTS obtained by the Official Opposition reveal that the private medical information of British Columbians, potentially ranging from medical records and exam results to medical cannabis prescriptions, are now accessible to American and Indian IT contractors with the blessing of the NDP government.

“John Horgan and the NDP government are allowing the private and highly personal medical records of British Columbians to be accessed by American and Indian contractors. Not only is this completely unethical, but it’s also flat out illegal,” said Jas Johal, MLA for Richmond-Queensborough. “President Trump and his U.S. Administration, who have shown increased hostility towards Canadians, now have access to these files. Under the Patriot Act, the U.S. government can now utilize the information as they wish — including barring British Columbians entry to the United States.”

On July 29, NTT Canada took over the previous government contract from IBM Canada to provide IT services to health authorities, which has led to thousands of IT help desk requests backlogged in the new system. Documents obtained by the Official Opposition show that NTT has enlisted contractors located in the U.S. and India to help address the backlog and as a result, at least 5,000 private medical files are accessible to workers outside of Canada — a clear violation of B.C. law.

“How is it that the NDP Minister of Citizens’ Services, whose primary duty it is to safeguard the personal information of British Columbians, has allowed this egregious privacy breach to happen?” concluded Johal. “Not only does this privacy breach need to be rectified immediately but British Columbians also deserve a detailed explanation from John Horgan and the NDP on the extent of the breach and why multiple countries were permitted access to our personal medical records in the first place.”