Today the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology
presented its
report on Canada's Anti-Spam Law (CASL) to the House of
Commons, as part of the three-year CASL statutory review.
The report title is telling: Canada's Anti-Spam
Legislation: Clarifications are in Order. Having heard
40 witnesses ranging from CRTC counsel and enforcement staff, to
small and large businesses and business associations, to consumer
protection and privacy experts, the Committee made a strong call
for clearer legislation, guidance, and compliance decisions.
The Committee noted that those affected by CASL (for better or
worse) disagreed on important issues such as whether CASL has
actually reduced spam, and whether the proposed private right of
action (currently on hold indefinitely) should be enacted, amended,
or scuttled altogether. However, stakeholders almost all
agreed on the need for the CRTC – the government's
principal enforcement agency – to step up with
