Charter of Rights Archives

CASL

CASL Spamaflop not constitutional

I have argued many times on this blog that Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL) would not survive a Charter challenge. It’s “ban all” approach to regulating commercial speech, with limited exceptions, cannot be justified. Professor Emir Crowne, Associate Professor, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, just published a paper together with Stephanie Provato agreeing with this opinion, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation: A Constitutional Analysis, 31 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. & Privacy L. 1.

The abstract of the article says the following:

On December 15th, 2010, the Government of Canada agreed to BillC-28, the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act, with the intent to “deter the most damaging and deceptive forms of spam… from occurring in Canada and to help to drive out spammers.”

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CASL

Legislative and Judicial Approaches to Internet Regulation: CASL as a case study

Here are slides from a talk I gave earlier in the year to Justice Canada on the topic of approaches to Internet regulation. It used CASL of a case study of what not to do. The slides referred to the Alberta Court of Appeal decision in the United Food case. That decision has since been affirmed by the Supreme Court in Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401, 2013 SCC (summarized here)

For more information about CASL, see, CASL: the unofficial FAQ, regulatory impact statement, and compliance guideline.…

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Alberta PIPA violates Charter says Supreme Court in IPC v United Food and Commercial Workers

The Supreme Court released a landmark decision today in the Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401, 2013 SCC 62 case. In short, the Court found that while Alberta’s privacy legislation PIPA plays a vital role in protecting privacy, it violated the Charter right to freedom of expression by precluding the use of personal information in the labour context. The ruling is an appeal from a decision the Alberta Court of Appeal, which is summarized here.…

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CASL
Privacy

IPC v UFCW Charter/privacy case going to Supreme Court (updated)

If privacy legislation significantly impairs Charter rights do privacy rights or Charter rights prevail? Specifically, does an individual’s right to privacy for publically crossing a picket line under Alberta’s comprehensive privacy legislation Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) have to yield to a union’s right of free expression to film and disseminate that act under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? This question was answered in the affirmative by the Alberta Court of Appeal in United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v Alberta (Attorney General), 2012 ABCA 130.…

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