Federal Election 2011—The Legislative Impact

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

While the recent fall of the government has focused the attention of Canadians on political strategy and tactics, the government's defeat has also had a legislative impact. In total, 37 pieces of legislation (29 bills introduced in the house, and 8 that were introduced in the Senate) died on the order paper. Among the bills that died on Friday, March 25, were:

• the long-standing effort to amend the Copyright Act. This proposed overhaul of the Copyright Act has been highly controversial, as all stakeholders have different views on how copyright law should evolve in the face of technological change. Some of the copy control prohibitions in the bill, along with other rules regarding digital locks, are among those that have been heavily contested. The issue of copyright reform will not die with this bill, and in the wake of the election it will be interesting to track the next incarnation of the bill;