The Section Executive hopes you are staying safe and well during this challenging time. I am delighted to share news about our annual Access to Information and Privacy Law Symposium, law reform activities and webinars.
The Symposium is Moving Online!
We are excited to announce our annual Fall Symposium will be converted into an online format as a series of webinar programs. You can look forward to highly relevant content from engaging speakers (check out last year’s agenda)! Being online will help reach Section members who may have previously been unable to make the trip to Ottawa due to work, budget, family and now pandemic constraints. All sessions will be recorded so you can access the content at your own convenience. Our online format may also help us entice new panelists who may have had difficulty committing to a trip to Ottawa. Stay tuned for the dates.
Continued Advocacy Efforts
We continue to advocate for clarifications to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s position with respect to outsourcing. Following the report of findings into the joint investigation of the OPC and the BC Information and Privacy Commissioner into AggregateIQ, we wrote to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to ask that the Government consider clarifying processor and controller obligations in any reform to PIPEDA. We consider this issue to be very important and we will continue to press for clarity and consistency.
In British Columbia, a Special Committee has been appointed to review the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act and report to the Legislative Assembly. The Committee has solicited submissions, which can be made until August 14, 2020 through the Special Committee’s consultation portal. We understand that the BC Branch Section is preparing a submission, and we will be monitoring developments throughout the planned June virtual hearings and the written submission phase with a view to any implications for amendments to PIPEDA.
Missed our Last Webinars? Access the Recordings!
Although we have had to reschedule some of our programming, we recently held two webinars, available for purchase if you missed them.
An In-House Guide to Privacy & Access Law featured our insightful panelists, Keri L. Bennett, Caroline Deschênes, David Fraser and David Goodis, with Sabrina Anzini moderating. This program will serve as a helpful guide to in-house lawyers newly dealing with privacy issues and privacy law as part of their mandates.
Managing Privacy Breaches While Maintaining Privilege was a very interesting webinar that I recently moderated, featuring Alex Cameron, Sinziana Gutiu and Julie Himo. This program has been recorded and will be available for purchase soon. Please contact pd@CBA.org for more information.
Please reach out with any questions, and stay tuned for more updates about our Student Essay Contest winner (we were excited to see an increase in submissions this year!) and the dates for the new Symposium online format!!
Sincerely,
Alexis Kerr
Chair