Lawful access delicate balancing act, IIC conference is told

OTTAWA–Delegates to the recently-concluded conference of the International Institute of Communications’ Canadian chapter were given a primer on the government’s latest attempt to formulate a lawful access bill by Stephen Zolf of the Aird & Berlis law firm. Bill C-22 has passed through the House of Commons and is now being debated in the Senate. Zolf outlined the divergent views of the legislation. A description on the government’s website makes the bill sound innocuous, while Citizen Lab warns that it could be unconstitutional. “The tension here is between timely access to digital evidence and concerns for privacy in digital providers,” Zolf stated. Successive governments have been trying to solve the thorny issue of lawful access for years, he reported. He reminded the audience of the Harper government’s Bill C-30. At the time, then-Public Safety Minister Vic Toews cajoled the opposition to “stand with us or with the child pornographers". Under the proposed rules, law enforcement would present a confirmation of service demand to telecom service providers (TSPs) which would authenticate that the TSP is indeed providing service to a suspect. No judicial authorization is required. The standard imposed is “reasonable suspicion”, a term midway between mere suspicion and probable grounds. TSPs have five days to seek judicial review of the confirmation of service demand. Once the confirmation has been obtained, police must go before a judge to get a production order. Foreign and domestic TSPs can be required to turn over relevant evidence to the authorities, Zolf said. The second facet of the legislation is the Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act (SAAIA). This would apply to all electronic servers, not just TSPs. Again, foreign carriers would fall under the jurisdiction of the minister. Core providers are listed as targets for the bill but C-22 does not define them. The regulations are projected to be drafted following the passage of the Act. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree (Scarborough-Guildwood-Rouge Park, Ont.) has stated that most companies will not be affected by the provisions of the bill. A ministerial order would not be valid unless approved in writing by the Intelligence Commissioner. “The tech industry has called this a high-value cybersecurity honey pot target for hackers which could expose customers' sensitive financial, identity and transaction data to criminals and other unauthorized actors,” Zolf concluded. “To coin an often cited phrase, ‘a back door for law enforcement is a back door for everyone’.” The concern for lawmakers is to find the right balance between law enforcement needs and privacy requirements, the lawyer maintained. ppark@thewirereport.ca

Lawful access delicate balancing act, IIC conference is told

Regulatory |
By Paul Park
|October 22, 2026

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Lawful access delicate balancing act, IIC conference is told

Regulatory | By Paul Park |October 22, 2026

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By Paul Park
|October 22, 2026