Learn from the mistakes of others

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Canada privacy commissioner concerned about sharing information with US
Joe Shaulis at 11:05 AM ET

[JURIST] Canada [JURIST news archive] must do more to protect citizens' personal information from foreign governments, the national privacy commissioner [official website] said in a report [text; press release] to Parliament presented Tuesday. Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart [official profile] singled out the Canadian Border Services Agency [official website] for allowing guards and customs agents to give their US counterparts private information over the phone, even though agreements between the two nations require written requests and responses. The report also noted that the USA PATRIOT Act [JURIST news archive], passed by the US Congress [HR 3162 summary] soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and renewed this year [JURIST report], "has become the symbol of the increasing concern of Canadians about the security of their personal information when it leaves Canada."

Stoddart also called on Parliament [official website] to update privacy legislation [official backgrounder] to reflect "the reality of huge government systems that are capable of a surveillance we could not have dreamed of in 1982." Canada's Privacy Act has not been overhauled since its enactment in 1983.

CBC News has more.
The Globe and Mail has additional coverage.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Canada privacy commissioner concerned about sharing information with US
Joe Shaulis at 11:05 AM ET

[JURIST] Canada [JURIST news archive] must do more to protect citizens' personal information from foreign governments, the national privacy commissioner [official website] said in a report [text; press release] to Parliament presented Tuesday. Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart [official profile] singled out the Canadian Border Services Agency [official website] for allowing guards and customs agents to give their US counterparts private information over the phone, even though agreements between the two nations require written requests and responses. The report also noted that the USA PATRIOT Act [JURIST news archive], passed by the US Congress [HR 3162 summary] soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and renewed this year [JURIST report], "has become the symbol of the increasing concern of Canadians about the security of their personal information when it leaves Canada."

Stoddart also called on Parliament [official website] to update privacy legislation [official backgrounder] to reflect "the reality of huge government systems that are capable of a surveillance we could not have dreamed of in 1982." Canada's Privacy Act has not been overhauled since its enactment in 1983.

CBC News has more.
The Globe and Mail has additional coverage.

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
Canadian study recommends legalizing polygamy
Friday, January 13, 2006
Nishat Hasan

[JURIST] A study commissioned by the Canadian Justice Department and obtained by Canadian Press has urged the Canadian federal government to legalize polygamy to help protect women and children in those relationships. Section 293 of the Canadian Criminal Code currently bans polygamy, although a few Canadian provinces give limited recognition to foreign polygamous marriages for spousal support. The study, authored by three law professors at Ontario's Queen's University Faculty of Law, was prompted in part by concerns by British Columbia authorities about whether they should charge members of the Bountiful religious community in Creston, BC, which practices polygamy openly. The Canadian parliament legalized same-sex marriage across Canada in 2005.

Canadian Press has more.

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
Canadian study recommends legalizing polygamy
Friday, January 13, 2006
Nishat Hasan

[JURIST] A study commissioned by the Canadian Justice Department and obtained by Canadian Press has urged the Canadian federal government to legalize polygamy to help protect women and children in those relationships. Section 293 of the Canadian Criminal Code currently bans polygamy, although a few Canadian provinces give limited recognition to foreign polygamous marriages for spousal support. The study, authored by three law professors at Ontario's Queen's University Faculty of Law, was prompted in part by concerns by British Columbia authorities about whether they should charge members of the Bountiful religious community in Creston, BC, which practices polygamy openly. The Canadian parliament legalized same-sex marriage across Canada in 2005.

Canadian Press has more.