Hon. Marty Klyne: Senator Moreau, Canada hasn’t meaningfully updated privacy laws in over 20 years, even as social media and AI have transformed how companies use our data. Experts, including Jim Balsillie from the Council of Canadian Innovators, warn this outdated model no longer reflects today’s economy.

This directly drives up the cost of living. In the surveillance economy, dominant data-driven firms use tracking and profiling to entrench market power and impose exploitative algorithmic or personalized pricing. Each new data set collected magnifies their dominance, suppresses competition and accelerates market concentration, leading to higher prices and fewer choices for Canadians. Previous federal privacy bills failed to address these economic harms and were widely criticized by experts and civil society.

As the government prepares new privacy legislation, will you commit to including provisions that explicitly address surveillance-based pricing practices and data concentration that are costing Canadians more every day?

Hon. Pierre Moreau (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, Senator Klyne, for the question.

You are well aware that I cannot comment on legislation before it has been tabled by the government, but I will certainly raise your concern with the minister. We will be waiting for the legislation to be tabled in the other place.

Senator Klyne: Thank you for that. As a quick note, in 2018, Europe passed the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, giving citizens the right to be forgotten and the right to delete their data, and requiring companies to ask permission before tracking them online. Six years later, Canada still relies on outdated privacy laws that leave Canadians exposed when their data is breached or misused with real consequences.

When will Canada follow Europe’s lead?

Senator Moreau: Well, the answer to the first question was that we are currently working on the legislation to be tabled. I guess the answer to your supplementary question is probably soon — let’s hope, at least. You can be sure that I will send your concerns to the minister.