Michael Geist

The Lawful Access Debate Begins: Canadians Should Pay Attention to What the Government Isn’t Saying When the government introduced Bill C-2 last year, it buried the lawful access provisions at the end of an omnibus border security bill and said as little about it as possible. The strategy failed, the provisions were abandoned after widespread criticism, and the government spent months consulting stakeholders before trying again. Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, is the follow-up attempt.

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 263: The Lawful Access Act Roundtable With David Fraser and Robert Diab Lawful access is back. The decades-long battle has entered a new phase with the introduction of Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act. This bill follows last spring’s attempt to bury lawful access provisions in Bill C-2, a border measures bill.

Setting Canada’s AI Policy Priorities: My Appearance Before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is one of several House and Senate committees currently grappling with legal, regulatory and policy challenges and opportunities presented by AI. I appeared before the committee yesterday alongside Yoshua Bengio and Colin Bennett.

The Lawful Access Privacy Risks: Unpacking Bill C-22’s Expansive Metadata Retention Requirements Much of the discussion around the new lawful access bill (Bill C-22) has focused on provisions that improved upon Bill C-2, notably the decision to scrap the warrantless information demand power by requiring judicial oversight for access to subscriber information. Yet despite that improvement, there remain serious privacy concerns with the government’s latest iteration of lawful access.

Canada’s DST Debacle a Case Study of Digital Strategy Trouble My Globe and Mail op-ed opens by noting that after years of dismissing the warnings of likely retaliation, the Canadian government caved to U.S. pressure earlier this week as it cancelled the digital services tax. Faced with the U.S. suspension of trade negotiations, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced that the government would rescind the legislation that created it.

The government’s inclusion of warrantless information demand powers in Bill C-2 has attracted mounting concern, particularly the stunning decision to target everyone who provides services in Canada which creates near limitless targets for warrantless disclosure demands. Department of Justice officials have confirmed that Bill C-2 extends far beyond just telecom companies to services such as financial institutions, car rental companies, and hotels.

April 8, 2024 Law Bytes Episode 198: Richard Moon on the Return of the Section 13 Hate Speech Provision in the Online Harms Act 00:00 / 00:41:27 Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 00:41:27 | The public debate surrounding Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, has focused primarily on Human Rights Act and Criminal Code reforms.

The Jewish holiday of Purim over the weekend sparked the usually array of political tweets featuring some odd interpretations of the meaning of the holiday and expressing varying degrees of support for the Jewish community.But coming off one of the worst weeks in memory– cancelled Jewish events due to security concerns, antisemitism in the mainstream media, deeply troubling comments on the floor of the House of Commons, and the marginalization of some Jewish MPs in government – the time for...

TikTok app icon on smartphone screen by Ivan Radic CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/2m1K8PH Podcasts March 25, 2024 New legislation making its way through the U.S. Congress has placed a TikTok ban back on the public agenda. The bill – which would lead to either a divestiture or ban – has passed the House of Representatives and is now headed to the Senate.

The federal government has struggled to update Canadian privacy laws over the past decade, leaving the Supreme Court as perhaps the leading source of privacy protection.