In an op-ed for the Ottawa Citizen, Ken Rubin writes about the conflicts of interest that have emerged from the government’s decision to merge the treasury board president role with the minister of digital government. Rubin writes the treasury board is in place to monitor government spending; however, it has spent public money to implement governmentwide data delivery. “There has not been a privacy impact assessment done by the privacy commissioner on the implications of moving to a more digital government under a combined Treasury Board/Digital Ministry,” Rubin writes. “Treasury Board, which has a lead role in privacy protection, however, can find itself in a conflict because its dual role as a digital ministry means Canadians using its services may be in for more, not fewer, privacy invasions and breaches.”
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