The federal government says it is reviewing what appears to be an embarrassing error in its Online Streaming Act after a key privacy clause was accidentally deleted just two months after the law came into force.
The oversight was flagged this week by University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, who noted that a coordinating amendment in a separate official languages bill had mistakenly removed the privacy provision. Instead of updating a section on linguistic minority communities, the amendment struck out the privacy clause entirely, leaving the legislation with two nearly identical language provisions and no privacy safeguard.
The clause — introduced by Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne at the recommendation of Canada’s privacy commissioner — required the act to be applied in a way that respected individuals’ right to privacy.
Heritage Canada acknowledged the mistake in a statement, calling it “an inadvertent oversight” and promising to review the issue. But critics say the deletion undermines privacy protections in broadcasting law. “This was a mistake on the government’s part,” Geist said. “It needs to be fixed as soon as possible.”
Miville-Dechêne said she was surprised the error slipped through so many layers of review and insisted it must be corrected quickly.
While the government maintains that broader privacy laws still apply, experts warn the omission could create confusion for regulators and the courts, and weaken assurances that the Online Streaming Act is aligned with Canadian privacy standards.