2. Contact/Who Am I?

You can leave messages in the comment section of the blog. Or, for more privacy, you can contact me at searcher@teksavvy.com (that's 2 v's not a w).
If you send letters to Christie Clark (or others) I would appreciate a copy sent to me via e-mail so I have an idea of how many are being sent.
If you would like a copy of the petition sent to you so you can collect names from your friend, neighbours, co-workers, etc. sent a request to searcher@imagen.ca and specify if you want an 8-1/2 x 11 or 8-1/2 x 14 page.
I am just an average person, with no medical affiliation, who went to a hospital in this province. I did, however, know enough about the privacy laws to recognize that some of the questions being asked were illegal and that I was legally entitled to know why they were asking these questions. I did not know that they could not legally refuse me admittance to the hospital.

There was some (minor) confusion on my part between FOIPPA (the public body privacy act) and PIPA (the privacy act for the private sector, "including businesses, non-profits, landlords or doctors in private practice" – Guide to FOIPPA, June 2004, pg. 5). Essentially, I have been learning about FOIPPA and the actual process of trying to gain access to information as I went along.

I am a person who believes that if you don't stand up for your rights you won't have them. And the best time to stand up for your rights is when you don't need them. Although, for me, that doesn't apply in this case, because I wasn't aware my rights were being violated until I went to the hospital. I had no idea, when I started to ask questions, that it would become so time-consuming and complicated. It seemed to me, and still does, that the questions I asked were basic and should have been readily available to patients. The hospitals/authorities have danced around the questions "who specifically has access to our personal information and how is our information protected", no doubt hoping that I would give up. I chose instead to go to the people. In hindsight, would I do this again? Yes, because again, I believe you have to stand up for your rights.

Please note that I am new to blogging so I welcome constructive suggestions (preferably with details on how to make the changes).