Alberta Privacy Law Update: PIPA On Death’s Door

About a year ago on November 15, 2013, Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) was declared invalid on constitutional grounds. The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), in its wisdom, deferred the effect of this order for a 1 year period, to permit the Alberta legislature to revisit and amend the legislation to bring it in line with the Constitution. The legislature, in its wisdom, has done nothing in the intervening period, and is not due to return to work until November 17, 2014, two days after the court's declaration of invalidity takes effect.

The Alberta government has filed a motion asking the SCC to extend the suspension period, to provide more time to address the issue, but an overhaul of PIPA is not an easy or quick task. Stay tuned.