On Friday, industry minister François-Philippe Champagne read Bill C-27 a second time at the House of Commons. The bill consists of the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act. 

“For Canadians to further prosper from the digital economy, we need to ensure they have confidence and trust in the digital platforms, confidence that our advantage in cutting-edge technology does not come at the price of privacy and safety, confidence that their personal information is protected and confidence that we are taking the extra steps to protect our children,” said Champagne in his speech. 

He went on to explain and describe the three new key pieces of legislation the bill hopes to enact.

Kitchener Centre’s MP Mike Morrice expressed some concerns that federal political parties do not have to follow the same privacy laws that apply to others across the country. Bay of Quintes’ MP Ryan Williams said the lack of regulatory framework around the act’s proposed issues has thus far hurt Canadians.

The conversation then moved to the subject of privacy.

“There are two parts we are looking at for privacy. Number one is Bill C-27, which would protect Canadians’ privacy rights when it comes to business. The second side is the Privacy Act,” said Williams. Trois-Rivières‘ MP René Villemure agreed that privacy was of paramount importance. 

He added that the Privacy Act, as it pertains to everything the government holds and controls, needs to come back to Parliament as well. Meanwhile, regulatory bodies in the advertising and marketing space welcomed this next step in the act’s enactment.

“We’re one step closer to a federal privacy law which preserves some balance and ability to innovate in the digital media marketplace. With the exception of a few points in the bill that remain somewhat unsettling, and the inclusion of the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act, which requires some additional clarity, we’re generally feeling positive about the direction in which things are moving,” said Sonia Carreno, president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

She explained that AIDA has been plugged into the privacy bill with very little detail and no actual outlined regulations which could be problematic for the advertising industry. 

Sara Clodman, VP of public affairs and thought leadership for the Canadian Marketing Association, said the proposed bill refines or builds on the existing protections found under PIPEDA. For example. the consent model for advertising activities would remain largely the same, but it would be backed up by stronger transparency requirements and new financial penalties for non-compliance. The penalties would be the largest in the G7.

“There are some new requirements that would impact the ad world – including a new deletion right for consumers that could impact the data sets that advertisers rely on, heightened protections for children’s data, and an expectation for greater transparency around automated decisions when they could have a significant impact on individuals,” she added.

“The bill defines de-identified information and makes it fully subject to the law, with limited exceptions. One of those exceptions is internal analytics and research.”

The legislation now has to be debated before a parliamentary committee, which will hear from witnesses, and then go through the Senate. The government will also have to create regulations to go along with the act if it is indeed implemented.