On November 25, 2014, the Alberta Government's proposed
amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act
(PIPA), found in Bill 3, passed the second reading of the
legislature.
The proposed amendments are in response to the decision of the
Supreme Court of Canada in Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v.
United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401. In that case,
the Supreme Court of Canada declared PIPA to be
unconstitutional and invalid, holding that it infringed on the
freedom of expression guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms by limiting the ability of the union to
video-tape and photograph individuals crossing the picket line. The
Supreme Court of Canada held that freedom of expression in the
context of labour disputes must be balanced against the
government's objective of providing individuals control over
their personal information when crossing a picket line. The
declaration of invalidity for PIPA was suspended for
