OTTAWA — Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne says updating the country’s decades-old consumer privacy rules is a “top priority” in the new Parliament, and he will present “an amended bill” in the new year after criticism of the Liberal government’s original legislation.

“As we’re looking at the new economy … this is one way to put Canada at the forefront,” he said in an interview with The Logic on Friday.

Legal experts and MPs have long called for updates to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)—the consumer-privacy law since April 2000—to reflect new digital business models and the shift of commerce and social life online.

After consultations, the Liberal government released a digital charter of high-level principles in May 2019 to guide future online regulation, as well as proposals to reform PIPEDA. In November 2020 it introduced legislation to turn that framework into law. Bill C-11 would have created a new Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA), giving users new rights to move and remove their personal information and businesses more flexibility over how they use data. The legislation expired when the Liberals called a federal election this summer.

“My top priority now is to do the digital charter, because I think that is going to be foundational in many ways,” Champagne said, speaking to The Logic in his Ottawa office. The minister, who replaced Navdeep Bains in January, wants Canada to be “a market leader when it comes to the digital [and] data economy.” He said updated privacy legislation should ensure users can trust that their personal information is protected, while at the same time fostering innovation.

During the election campaign, the Liberals promised to bring forward bills on key digital-economy issues, including streaming, online harms and news content, within the first 100 days of a new term; privacy was not among them. But on Friday, Champagne said he plans to present new legislation “certainly next year,” and has sought the support of colleagues in the House of Commons. “I think there’s momentum,” he said.

The original Bill C-11 attracted critics. Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien called it a “step back” from PIPEDA that would give individuals “less control” over their data and contained some “unreasonably broad” exemptions to the requirement that organizations get consumers’ consent to collect and use their personal information. The watchdog has also long wanted the country’s laws to enshrine privacy as a human right. 

Several provinces are moving forward with their own new or updated privacy rules. Speaking to The Logic in August, Ontario Government and Consumer Services Minister Ross Romano cited protections for children online as one shortcoming of the federal legislation that the Progressive Conservative government is looking to address in its own forthcoming regulations. 

Business groups were split on C-11. In June, the Business Council of Canada, which represents the CEOs of some of the country’s largest firms, said the bill represented “a responsible approach to privacy regulation,” though it hoped for targeted amendments including more scope to use anonymized information for business operations. But the Council of Canadian Innovators, a scale-up lobby group, felt “there wasn’t proper consultation,” executive director Benjamin Bergen said in September, citing interoperability with the EU’s GDPR and U.S. regulation as a concern. 

The Liberal government will introduce “an amended bill, which will address some of the feedback we received from stakeholders,” Champagne said, noting, “This is how it should be done, anyway.” 

The minister declined to specify what would be changed or added in the legislation, but referenced his meeting with Frances Haugen, an ex-Facebook product manager turned whistleblower, in Paris last month. The conversation “was very informative in some of the things that we can improve,” he said. “The issue about algorithm [and] how to protect children is going to be featuring in our reflection.”

Internal company documents that Haugen leaked to media outlets suggested the company was aware Instagram had a negative effect on the mental health of many teen girls. “Algorithmic bias issues are a major issue for our democracy,” she told a U.S. Senate committee in October. Meta has noted its internal research shows most Instagram users feel better being on the platform, and pushed back on other reporting based on the documents. 

The CPPA would have required companies to disclose whether and how they were using algorithms and AI to make decisions, and explain to users how those that affected them were reached.  

Updated privacy legislation is “a big building block” of preparing Canada for the digital  and data economy, and “will have an impact for future generations,” said Champagne. “That’s why I am so adamant that we do it … quickly with the support of all the parties to move ahead.”

Bill C-11 failed to progress through Parliament because Liberal and opposition MPs could not agree on whether it should be reviewed by the House ethics or industry committee. In debate, the NDP said it “needs to be strengthened,” while during the summer election campaign, the Conservatives called it “weak.”

Brian Masse and Ed Fast, respectively the NDP and Conservative innovation critics, are due to meet with Champagne to discuss privacy legislation next week, their offices said Friday.

Tobi Cohen, a spokesperson for the privacy commissioner, said Therrien recently wrote to Champagne to “reiterate his concerns” and note that it is “possible to make substantial improvements” to the government’s bill “within its existing structure, without having to redraft it entirely.”