Quebec readies constitutional challenge to Canadian privacy law

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 08:46:10 -0500
From: Michael Geist <mgeist () pobox com>
Subject: Quebec readies constitutional challenge to Canadian privacy law
X-Sender: mgeist () mailbox uottawa ca
To: dave () farber net

<http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1072739408672&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154>

Federal privacy law to face legal challenge

Tyler Hamilton
Business Reporter

The Quebec government is preparing a constitutional challenge against a new 
federal privacy law that governs how businesses manage and protect customer 
information, the Star has learned.

With just two days left before the new federal privacy rules go into force, 
the Quebec Court of Appeal has cleared the way for the province's 
attorney-general to contest the "constitutional validity" of the Personal 
Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, a law that will apply 
to any business in a province that doesn't already have its own 
private-sector privacy legislation.
The province's position, outlined in a Dec. 17 Quebec Court of Appeal order 
obtained by the Star and translated into English, is that the federal law 
"interferes with Quebec's constitutional competence in matters of civil 
rights" and that the federal government has exceeded its jurisdiction.

...


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**********************************************************************
Professor Michael A. Geist
Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law
University of Ottawa Law School, Common Law Section
Technology Counsel, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
57 Louis Pasteur St., P.O. Box 450, Stn. A, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5
Tel: 613-562-5800, x3319     Fax: 613-562-5124
mgeist () pobox com              http://www.michaelgeist.ca

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