Law Bytes

The government’s privacy reform bill was supposed to earn applause for its effort to modernize outdated rules and provide Canadians with stronger privacy protections. Yet the decision to strip the Privacy Commissioner of Canada of responsibility for private-sector privacy law and shift that responsibility to the Digital Safety Commission has sparked widespread concern among Canadian privacy experts. This week’s Law Bytes podcast speaks to David Loukidelis, one of Canada’s best-regarded former privacy commissioners. Loukidelis served as BC's Information and Privacy Commissioner from 1999 to 2010, where he was responsible for the enforcement of BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and Personal Information Protection Act, which came into force in 2004. He joins me on the podcast to share his thoughts on the enforcement changes in the bill and what it may mean for privacy in Canada.

Earlier this month, the government shocked the culture sector by announcing it was effectively reversing the CRTC decision that implemented the Online Streaming Act. Culture Minister Marc Miller tried to cushion the blow with a promise of $600 million in support for the audio and audiovisual sectors, but there was no escaping the anger from some over abandoning a policy that had been years in the making. Mark Musselman is a former entertainment lawyer, longtime Canadian movie producer, and the author of the excellent White Paper Black Coffee Substack. He returns to the Law Bytes podcast to discuss the reversal, the stakeholder reaction, and the challenges that lie ahead.

Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, has quickly become a lightning rod for debate since its introduction earlier this month. The issue that invariably tops the list is the kids’ social media ban. Bill C-34, along with the recently introduced Bill C-36, will be covered from multiple angles in the weeks ahead. For the moment, I am pleased to rebroadcast a recent episode of the Globe and Mail’s The Decibel podcast. I was invited to appear on the program, where I was interviewed by Sherrill Sutherland about Bill C-34, the ban, and online harms and safety more broadly. I am grateful to the Globe for granting permission to rebroadcast the episode on my podcast uncut, in its entirety.

The release of the government’s AI strategy has sparked a wide range of reactions and a flurry of additional legislative initiatives. While the legislative side is being fleshed out, the debate over the broader strategy remains, including whether it features sufficient safeguards and enough ambition. To address the latter issue, Lucy Hargreaves, the Co-Founder and CEO of Build Canada, joins the Law Bytes podcast to assess the strategy, some of the remaining challenges, and discuss how Canada can “work to build AI companies the world can’t live without.”

In the span of a few days last week, the government announced it was reversing the CRTC’s Online Streaming Act ruling, released its long-awaited national AI strategy, and kept pushing Bill C-22, the lawful access bill, through committee. Given that this may have been the most eventful week in Canadian digital policy in years, this week’s Law Bytes podcast takes a breath and brings everyone up to speed on the latest developments.