As the number of high-profile online consumer security breaches continues to grow, the federal government is expected to introduce a bill soon to shake up Canada’s privacy laws — possibly as early as this week.
Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains signalled plans to introduce the legislation late last week on the House of Commons notice paper.
The bill — officially called “An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts” — would be the first major attempt to change Canada’s privacy law in decades.
Details of the bill won’t be available until the legislation is tabled, but a spokesperson for Bains pointed to the promises outlined in the minister’s mandate letter.
That letter — essentially the minister’s marching orders from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — tasked him with drafting a “digital charter” that would include legislation to give Canadians “appropriate compensation” when their personal data is breached.
It also promised to introduce new regulations for large digital companies to better protect Canadians’ personal data and encourage more competition in the digital marketplace, and to appoint a new data commissioner to oversee those regulations.
“It will be significant and meaningful to make it very clear that privacy is important. Compensation, of course, is one aspect of it,” Bains said back in January, adding that the government also wants “to demonstrate to businesses very clearly that there are going to be significant penalties for non-compliance with the law. That’s really my primary goal.”
The letter also calls for “enhanced powers for the Privacy Commissioner.” The office of Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien — who has been calling for more powers — said he will be briefed on the bill after it’s tabled.
“Our office has long been calling for federal privacy laws better suited to protecting Canadians in the digital age,” said Therrien’s spokesperson Vito Pilieci.
“We need a legal framework that allows for responsible innovation that serves the public interest and is likely to foster trust, but prohibits the use of technology in ways that are incompatible with our rights and values. The law should also provide for enforcement mechanisms that ensure individuals have access to quick and effective remedies for the protection of their privacy rights, and create incentives for broad compliance by organizations.”
The ‘right to be forgotten’
Earlier this month, a joint investigation by the federal, Alberta and B.C. privacy commissioners concluded that the real estate company behind some of Canada’s most popular shopping centres embedded cameras inside its digital information kiosks at 12 shopping malls in major Canadian cities to collect millions of images — and used facial recognition technology without customers’ knowledge or consent.
B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy said the commissioners likely would have pursued fines against the company, Cadallic Fairview, if they’d had the power.
“Fines in a case like this would have been a consideration. It is an incredible shortcoming of Canadian law,” he said.
“We as privacy regulators don’t have any authority to levy fines on companies that violate peoples’ personal information and that should really change.”
Statistics Canada says that about 57 per cent of Canadians online reported experiencing a cyber security incident in 2018.
Bains’s mandate letter also hints at the introduction of a so-called “right to be forgotten” or “right to erasure” law by calling for the “ability to withdraw, remove and erase basic personal data from a platform.”
The European Union passed a law back in 2014 allowing citizens to ask Google to remove problematic web hits that pop up when their name is searched, after a Spanish lawyer fought successfully to remove old material about his past debt problems.
Under the EU’s law, “inadequate, irrelevant or excessive” web hits aren’t deleted, but in most cases Google hides them from their search results — a process known as de-listing or de-indexing.
Conservative MP James Cumming, the party’s innovation, science and industry critic, said he’ll be reading it closely to make sure it protects Canadians’ privacy without being unreasonable for small businesses.
“Canada’s Conservatives will always stand up for the privacy of Canadians. When it comes to Liberal legislation, the devil is always in the details,” he said in a statement.
“Conservatives will review the legislation to ensure that it protects privacy without imposing burdensome regulations on small businesses who are struggling to keep their doors open during the second wave of the pandemic.”
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
