At a parliamentary committee on Monday, Steve Verheul also testified that the digital trade rules—which prevent governments from requiring information to be stored or processed within their borders, among other restrictions—were developed “largely as a result of consultations” with the provinces and unnamed industry stakeholders. He also said the negotiating team had considered the long-term economic and legal implications of the measures, but that there was no documented analysis he could publicly release. (The Logic)

Talking point: The digital trade provisions prevent Canada from implementing personal information protections like those in the EU’s GDPR, critics argue. The U.S. tech industry has backed the anti-localization provisions, which the Obama administration first tried to introduce in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trump White House then put on its NAFTA re-negotiation wishlist. As Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner—to whom Verheul was responding on Monday—noted, that leaves Canadian firms dealing with two increasingly different sets of data rules. That could mean increased compliance burdens and costs. Canada’s obligation to extend the provisions in other trade deals also expands its exposure to the growing “splinternet” of legal frameworks when it comes to the digital economy, something Ottawa is working with other governments through the World Trade Organization to try and avoid.