A Calgary-based constitutional rights group is warning that proposed federal legislation could significantly weaken Canadians’ privacy protections, arguing that new police powers and mandatory data retention rules would lower legal thresholds for access to highly sensitive personal information.The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has submitted a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, raising concerns about Bill C-22 as MPs continue reviewing the legislation following second reading approval.The group argues the bill introduces two major privacy risks. The first involves a new production order that would allow police to obtain subscriber information — such as names, addresses, account details, device identifiers, and service usage data — on the basis of “reasonable suspicion” rather than the higher legal standard of “reasonable grounds to believe.”According to the brief, this lower threshold could expand access to sensitive personal records held not only by telecommunications companies, but also by professionals such as doctors, psychologists, lawyers, and counsellors.The second concern relates to the proposed Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act, which would require electronic service providers to retain metadata, including location and transmission data, for up to one year. The Justice Centre says this would effectively create a nationwide mandatory data retention system.The brief warns that access to this information could be authorized through secret ministerial orders, subject to approval by an intelligence commissioner rather than a judge, and accompanied by strict gag provisions that would limit public transparency.The organization argues these measures would violate section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, by lowering safeguards around the collection and retention of private data.It also contends the bill undermines Canadians’ reasonable expectation of privacy by requiring the creation and storage of data that would otherwise be deleted under normal business practices..The brief points to international examples, noting that courts in Europe have struck down similar mandatory metadata retention regimes as disproportionate. It also cites Australia’s 2015 policy, under which more than 3,000 instances of unlawfully accessed user data were recorded, including cases involving journalists.“Privacy is the shield of a free people,” said John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. “Canadians deserve security without sacrificing privacy.”The group is urging the committee to recommend major amendments to Bill C-22, including scrapping the proposed production order, removing mandatory data retention requirements, strengthening judicial oversight, and adding a sunset clause. Without those changes, it argues the legislation should not proceed in its current form.
