A quiet error, hidden within the machinery of legislative change, threatened to strip Canadians of a crucial privacy protection embedded in the Online Streaming Act. For over two years, a vital safeguard – ensuring the law respected individual privacy – vanished from the legislation, a consequence of an accidental deletion during a seemingly unrelated amendment.
The Online Streaming Act, passed in 2023, brought online streaming giants like Netflix under the umbrella of Canadian broadcasting regulations. A Senate amendment, championed by Senator Julie Miville-Dechene and guided by the federal privacy commissioner’s recommendations, had explicitly enshrined the right to privacy within the Act’s interpretation.
The problem arose with a subsequent bill focused on official languages. Intended to refine provisions concerning linguistic minority communities, the amendment unexpectedly *replaced* the privacy clause instead of supplementing it. The result? A duplication of language protections and a complete absence of any explicit privacy consideration within the streaming legislation.
The oversight remained undetected for months, only coming to light when University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist highlighted the discrepancy. The Heritage Department acknowledged the error, describing it as a “recently made aware of what appears to be an inadvertent oversight in a co-ordinating amendment.”
Now, the federal budget includes a commitment to rectify the mistake. A legislative amendment will be introduced to restore the original privacy provision, effectively re-inserting a critical layer of protection for Canadians as they navigate the evolving landscape of online streaming. This correction underscores the delicate balance between modernizing legislation and safeguarding fundamental rights.
