Dear members,
Welcome to a new CBA year!
I am honoured to be your Chair for the 2017-2018 year as I enter my tenth year with the Section. Meet our 2017-2018 executive. We are here to help and would love to hear from you.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Chair, Loïc Berdnikoff, for his commitment, contributions and work over the last year. Loïc will continue to work closely with us in his role as Past Chair.
The Section has been very active over the last few years, and it has not gone unnoticed. The CBA Privacy and Access Law Section was the proud winner of the 2016-2017 National Sections Council Award of Excellence (presented on October 15). This award celebrates and recognizes the outstanding contribution of a National Section in providing service to members and furthering the objectives of the CBA. It is the Section’s first NSC Award of Excellence. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Section’s efforts, the time you have volunteered, and your participation in our activities.
The Section remains committed to improving the law and administration of justice. With your help the Section has intervened or provided constructive and balanced comments on a number of recent privacy law issues, including:
Please take a moment to look through our recent and upcoming Section initiatives and events outlined below. There will be many opportunities for you to get involved again this year. Please contact Crystal Lam for more information.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Morin
Chair, CBA Privacy and Access Law Section
Section Activities and Submissions
- Representatives of the Section will meet with representatives from Justice Canada on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 to discuss ongoing and expected legislative activities.
- The Section Executive is holding its annual in-person meeting on Thursday, October 26, 2017 in Ottawa.
- Register for the annual CBA Access to Information and Privacy Law Symposium in Ottawa from Friday, October 27, 2017 to Saturday, October 28, 2017.
- Register for the webinar Solicitor-Client Privilege Reaffirmed: What it Means for Access to Information on Thursday, November 9, 2017.
- The Section is currently working on submissions related to: Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts; the recently proposed Breach of Security Safeguards Regulations under PIPEDA; and will be involved in the upcoming mandatory review of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation.
- We expect to participate in the development and review of proposed guidance from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) as clearly indicated in the OPC’s 2016-2017 Annual Report and Report on Consent published in September.
- The Section is always looking for articles for Privacy Pages – you can send your completed articles to Crystal Lam.
Ontario:
October 17: Register for the webinar on Smart Phones and the Law: Search, Seizure and Privacy.
November 21: Register for the webinar on Open Contracting: Exploring Open Government in Contracting and Procurement.
British Columbia:
Stay tuned! The CBA-BC will be hosting a session on the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): What you need to know. For more information, please contact CBA-BC.
Manitoba:
The CBA-MB provided submissions as part of the legislative review of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and The Personal Health Information Act. In addition, The Protection Children (Information Sharing) Act has now come into force.