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If you follow me for Canadian digital policy, copyright, and AI regulation, the deeper analysis lives on my Substack - including every Law Bytes podcast episode embedded in full. Free to subscribe: mgeist.substack.com/

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Well past midnight and the votes continue on Bill C-22 amendments. Just amendment numbers with no discussion, no debate, and no way for the public to even know what is being voted on.
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The government has pushed through its motion to end debate on Bill C-22, forcing the committee into a late night hearing going on right now that no one will watch or can follow to pass the bill and send to the House. An absolute democratic embarrassment. parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Harmony/en…

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Michael Geist retweeted
🚨 BREAKING - The government just called a vote on their motion to end debate on Bill C-22. Clause by clause could wrap tonight with the government's amendments effectively rammed through.
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Michael Geist retweeted
You're gutting the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and mandating metadata retention and backdoors to data C'mon man
Canadians deserve more control over their personal information. That’s why the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act would introduce a Right to Deletion, giving Canadians greater control over their data and strengthening privacy rights in the digital age. 🇨🇦 Les Canadiens méritent d'avoir davantage de contrôle sur leurs données personnelles. C'est pourquoi la Loi sur la protection de la vie privée et les données des consommateurs instaurerait un droit à la suppression, offrant ainsi aux Canadiens un plus grand contrôle sur leurs données et renforçant les droits à la vie privée à l'ère numérique.
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With the government cutting off Bill C-22 debate, reports say they will make a few modest changes to lawful access bill, including mandatory metadata retention for 6 months (vs. 1 year), encryption clarification, and two year expiry of ministerial orders. thestar.com/politics/federal…
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Michael Geist retweeted
With Minister @gary_srp invoking "you're with us or with the criminals" language as the government seeks to shut down debate on Bill C-22, he would do well to remember how Liberal MPs reacted to that approach years ago on a different lawful access bill. x.com/mgeist/status/20672320…
In 2012, Liberals condemned Vic Toews for telling lawful access critics they could “stand with us or with the child pornographers." Now @gary_srp, shutting down Bill C-22 debate, tells critics to "choose" between police and victims. Same shameful playbook. michaelgeist.ca/2026/06/gary…
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Michael Geist retweeted
CCLA joined over 35 leading civil society groups and experts today in calling the federal government out for failing to apply privacy rules and oversight to federal political parties. The risks here are real--just last month, a political party-enabled data breach exposed personal information of 2.9 million Albertans. Federal political parties have gone to great lengths to avoid subjecting themselves to any meaningful privacy restrictions, even as political campaigning relies on more and more of our sensitive data. In fact, the federal government just tabled a bill updating our privacy laws earlier this week, yet failed once again to apply these rules to political parties. Join us in calling on the government to apply effective privacy rules to federal political parties by signing this parliamentary petition: ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/P… Read the letter: ccla.org/press-release/civil…

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“The new commission is still on the drawing board, but it is being overloaded with so many responsibilities that you have to wonder whether it will be crushed under its own weight before it can be stood up.” theglobeandmail.com/politics…
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Excellent masthead editorial on the flawed Online Streaming Act: “the government would take money from web giants and give the money to struggling creators of Canadian stories and music. Unfortunately, like the tale of Robin Hood, it was mostly fictional.” theglobeandmail.com/opinion/…
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In 2012, Liberals condemned Vic Toews for telling lawful access critics they could “stand with us or with the child pornographers." Now @gary_srp, shutting down Bill C-22 debate, tells critics to "choose" between police and victims. Same shameful playbook. michaelgeist.ca/2026/06/gary…
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That expert would be me. To see a Liberal cabinet minister adopt the Vic Toews’ “you’re with us or with the criminals” style language on lawful access should be the signal that the government has lost its way on Bill C-22.
A privacy expert told Global News the Liberals' push to fast-track the bill and limit debate was "staggering" and "astonishing." globalnews.ca/news/11908249/…
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Michael Geist retweeted
Professor Geist is being polite. I'm watching the SECU hearings in real time and the Bill C-22 is exactly the same deeply problematic Bill that was tabled by the Minister. Not one word has changed. The spokesperson is full of shit.
Gaslighting in the extreme: the government is literally cutting off debate on amendments to actually change in the bill, yet “a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, said the bill has undergone changes to address concerns.” theglobeandmail.com/politics…
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In the last 24 hours, government has announced plans to eviscerate the Privacy Commissioner’s office, cut off debate on a lawful access bill that includes metadata retention, and reversed age verification privacy safeguards 5 days after introducing them. x.com/mgeist/status/20666607…
Privacy involves more than just AI and social media. How banks, retailers, airlines, etc. deal with our information matters too. To conceive of it as just an adjunct of the AI and digital file, explains a lot about how this government doesn’t get privacy. michaelgeist.ca/2026/06/cana…
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Gaslighting in the extreme: the government is literally cutting off debate on amendments to actually change in the bill, yet “a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, said the bill has undergone changes to address concerns.” theglobeandmail.com/politics…
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The Privacy Commissioner is a professional who would never publicly say otherwise on the day a bill is introduced, but the government’s plan to eviscerate his Office and remove responsibility for private sector privacy regulation is hardly to be welcomed. x.com/EvanLSolomon/status/20…

Canada’s Privacy Commissioner welcomed key parts of Bill C-36, including stronger protections for children, privacy impact assessments and stronger enforcement powers: “I am pleased to see many of my recommendations reflected in the new Bill. In particular, I welcome proposals to recognize privacy as a fundamental right, an explicit recognition of the best interests of children, requirements to conduct privacy impact assessments, and stronger enforcement powers. Protecting privacy is one of the paramount challenges of our time, and modernizing Canada’s privacy laws is essential to protect Canadians and meet the challenges of today’s data-driven world.” Bill-C36 “represents a pivotal step for privacy in Canada.” - Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne
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Michael Geist retweeted
Bill C-22 is 72 pages long: parl.ca/Content/Bills/451/Go… It raises serious privacy and civil rights issues. No worry: the government is going to give #SECU Committee 30 minutes to review it, and then each party gets 20 minutes to raise concerns in @OurCommons. What could go wrong?

Never seen anything like this. The Liberals are ramming through Bill C-22 and ignoring legitimate voices. Shameful. We will fight this abuse of process every step of the way.
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Here’s the basic question for the government: how does eliminating the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s role in regulating private-sector privacy and replacing it with a super-regulator with less independence and less expertise improve Canadians’ privacy? x.com/mgeist/status/20666607…
Privacy involves more than just AI and social media. How banks, retailers, airlines, etc. deal with our information matters too. To conceive of it as just an adjunct of the AI and digital file, explains a lot about how this government doesn’t get privacy. michaelgeist.ca/2026/06/cana…
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Michael Geist retweeted

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