Private Members Motion passed unanimously, expanding PIPEDA
On March 3, 2020 I introduced a Private Members Resolution (PMR) in the House of Assembly in Newfoundland and Labrador, which was passed unanimously on March 4, 2020.
What is a Private Members Resolution?
In the House of Assembly Members Parliamentary Guide (p. 33, May ‘19) it says:
Private Members’ Business
Private Members’ Day is Wednesday afternoon, when Private Members’ business has priority. Private Members’ Resolutions which have been given notice of on the preceding Monday appear on the Order Paper on Wednesday afternoon, and are called in the order decided by each caucus. Private Members’ Business alternates weekly between the two sides of the House, the first following a general election belongs to the Official Opposition. A Private Members’ Resolution must be reviewed by the Law Clerk, including any amendments.
Amongst the Liberal backbenchers, we have to put forward a PMR every second week when the house is sitting. These are non-binding motions that we have to debate for most of an afternoon, and they can’t involve any expenditures or the commitment of expenditures. These are sometimes highly political in nature, but they can useful tools to increase awareness of a complex issue. I have introduced PMR’s before, however this was the first one that I came up with, and led the execution of.
The Private Members Resolution was as follows:
WHEREAS the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada believes that the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA, falls short in protecting Canadians from the privacy risks posed by advancements in artificial intelligence systems; and
WHEREAS an artificial intelligence system is defined as: “a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. AI systems are designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy”; and
WHEREAS Newfoundland and Labrador residents are protected in the public sector through the provincial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, ATIPP, and in the private sector by the federal PIPEDA; and
WHEREAS provinces, including British Columbia and Alberta, have their own privacy legislation in lieu of PIPEDA, that safeguards privacy and protection of personal information held by private companies and organizations; and
WHEREAS other countries such as the UK have comprehensive legislation that protects residents' privacy and personal information from advances in artificial intelligence systems in both private and public sector organizations; and
WHEREAS within the current regulatory framework, advances in artificial intelligence systems may result in inadequate privacy protections;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House supports the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in expanding PIPEDA to include artificial intelligence systems; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this House urges the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to investigate expanding provincial privacy legislation to include protections for the use of individuals' personal information by public and private sector organizations, particularly as it relates to artificial intelligence systems.
You can read the transcript of the session in the Hansard, the record of everything said in the House of Assembly. It’s about two thirds the way down the page, or you can search the page for “Stoodley” and it’s the 3rd mention that day.
Why would you propose this as a PMR?
In my experience, there is very low general understanding of privacy legislation and how it applies in Newfoundland and Labrador. Everyone knows about ATIPP and how individuals can access public sector information, but that is as far as it goes.
I knew it was our (Liberal backbenchers’) turn to introduce and debate a PMR, and the options already written and internally approved were very boring. I was doing some research into potential artificial intelligence topics and realized that the Privacy Commissioner of Canada was engaging in consultations as to whether PIPEDA (the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) should be expanded to include artificial intelligence systems. After a bit more research I realized that this would be perfect for the PMR, and we could propose:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House supports the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in expanding PIPEDA to include artificial intelligence systems.
The provincial privacy component is also a little understood component. In Canada we have different legislation that covers privacy as it relates to public and private sector use and disclosure. In Newfoundland and Labrador, personal information and privacy of information held by public sector institutions is governed by The ATIP Act. In the private sector there is no provincial legislation so the federal PIPEDA governs how private companies and organizations store, use and disclosure personal information. While coverage under PIPEDA is acceptable, Alberta, BC and Quebec have their own privacy legislation that supersedes PIPEDA and is effective in those jurisdictions. From my past experiences I am aware that Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPDA) is slightly more restrictive than PIPEDA and has greater disclosure requirements, so there is precedent for provinces to develop privacy legislation that applies to private sector organizations. Also in Newfoundland and Labrador we have the Personal Health Information Act, that provides specific, heightened protections for individuals’ information and privacy where health matters are concerned.
As a result of the nuanced provincial component to privacy legislation in Canada, I thought it was also helpful to include this opportunity in the PMR, so if as a province we are unhappy or dissatisfied with privacy protections at the federal level, we can consider implementing our own legislation. The resolution included:
AND urges the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to investigate expanding provincial privacy legislation to include protections for the use of individuals' personal information by public and private sector organizations as it relates to artificial intelligence systems.
What else are we doing about it?
During debate on the PMR, it was informally agreed that the House of Assembly would wait to see the outcome of the federal PIPEDA consultations to decide if action was required. I also volunteered to submit feedback from our debate to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as part of the consultations. This feedback has been submitted, and I look forward to hearing and reviewing the proposed changes to PIPEDA to protect Canadians!