Manitoba will keep its paper health cards

Posted On: December 13, 2023

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government is canceling its predecessor’s initiative to integrate a health card, driver’s license, ID card and travel card into a single multi-functional ID card (CIP).

The previous NDP government proposed the CIP in 2015 to save money in the long term by eliminating paper health cards. Public consultations took place in the fall of 2015 and the $13 million plan was approved by the NDP government in January 2016.

Current Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen confirms that the project will be replaced by a “more comprehensive identity management system”.

“If the province is considering adopting a uniform ID card, it needs to be done right the first time. “In examining the project parameters, we have identified a number of issues that require further investigation,” Minister Goertzen said in a statement on Thursday.

[Cet examen] This includes examining the need for policy, legal and regulatory changes and finding ways to ensure the secure storage and management of personal health information. The question also arises as to how compliance with data protection laws can be assessed.

The province says it has already spent $2.1 million implementing the New Democratic Party (NDP) project. The health minister promises to use the data the province has collected so far to “develop and implement an identity management strategy that could benefit the entire government.”

Trouble among the homeless

When the CIP project was announced in 2015, charity Siloam Mission praised the initiative for enabling homeless and homeless people to obtain valid photo identification.

Reception center manager Vanessa Gamblin says she understands the province’s concerns about the costs associated with the new multi-function card. However, she believes it will be significantly more costly in the long run to strip photo IDs from vulnerable people.

It’s impossible to have a valid government-issued photo ID without a fixed address, says Ms. Gamblin, “and it’s much more difficult, if not impossible, to apply for a job, access social media services, or even to try to find such a biological family without photo ID.

That’s why we pay much more for members of our community who are homeless or homeless and can’t make ends meet. We pay more money to keep them poor.

NDP justice critic Andrew Swan is surprised by the government’s decision to scrap the new multi-function cards, saying “all Manitobans are embarrassed by their thin paper health card that doesn’t provide access to their medical information.”

“We know there are privacy issues and operational hurdles, but [délivrer des CIP] “It’s going in the right direction,” he says.

Mr. Swan says he’s not sure whether the province is implementing austerity measures or simply trying to eliminate as many NDP projects as possible.