Union Free Expression Rights Trump Privacy Concerns: Alberta PIPA Unconstitutional

The emerging privacy rights of some Canadians may now be in a state of flux because of a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada (the "SCC"). As a result of the SCC's November 15, 2013 decision in Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 (2013 SCC 62) ("Alberta Privacy"), the Alberta Personal Information Protection Act ("PIPA") has been declared unconstitutional. Since other Canadian provinces (such as British Columbia, Quebec and more recently Manitoba) also have data protection laws similar to the Alberta PIPA that govern the collection, use and disclosure of employees' personal information, and given that at the federal level, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act provides for a similar framework (although this federal law only applies to employees of federal works), this development may arguably require a review of privacy and data protection legislation across the country as it