Evidence of meeting #83 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was casl.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Electronic Commerce Enforcement, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
We haven't completed a case in that area. We are looking at other platforms. We receive complaints via SMS, as one example, and other messaging services in the SRC. It's something we look at. It goes into the same case-selection approach as—
Liberal
Terry Sheehan Liberal Sault Ste. Marie, ON
So it's a new thing. Okay.
I'll let Lloyd pick it up from here.
Liberal
Lloyd Longfield Liberal Guelph, ON
Thank you.
This study was triggered by the suspension of the private right of action, to look at the legislation and to comment on the suspension. We've had a lot of testimony about subsection 6(6) around clarifying what is a “commercial electronic message”. We've had a very wide range of opinions. We aren't at the point of recommendations yet, but to me it doesn't seem as though we're ready for private right of action in terms of having this legislation sunk in deep enough to be able to have a strong enforcement of it through private right of action.
Could you comment on my opinion on that?
Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
In my role as the enforcement officer of CASL, the private right of action actually doesn't affect me. It provides another opportunity for Canadians to pursue complaints or activities that they disagree with. As chief compliance and enforcement officer, the PRA really doesn't affect the way I do my job or how I will enforce CASL, per se. It provides, if you will, another way for someone to pursue a complaint against a company or whatever.
Where it does affect, obviously, is that if there's a private right of action case, I am unable to investigate that case, and vice versa; if a company is in an undertaking or with—
Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
I would agree with that.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Thank you.
It is interesting, though, about the private right of action. It is one of the tools, that now will be put in abeyance, for responding to activity that is illegal, or potentially even with settlements. Is there anything else you can do that would actually help with the enforcement right now in terms of the CRTC? The private right of action was one of the tools. We looked at all the different methods of how to rein in some of these things. The private right of action was seen as one of those elements to combat spam, especially in the more egregious situations where there were habitual and ongoing problems.
With that now in abeyance for the moment, are there any alternatives that we can do, or that we should be looking at, to shore up this situation, or is it just wait and see, nothing changes, with your department?
Senior Legal Counsel, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
For us, investigation and enforcement will continue. There will be no change to that.
I will add, though, that with respect to the delay of the private right of action, there will be no remedy for consumers and Canadian citizens to obtain damages. When we issue an administrative monetary penalty, those funds go to the Receiver General for Canada. If individual consumers and Canadians are affected—if there are damages by spam or malware, if it affects their system, if costs are incurred to them—there is nothing we can do to help individual consumers and individual Canadians. That's what the private right of action does. It's a tool to award money to Canadians who have been personally impacted by spam. And that's one thing we can't do.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Yes, and that's my point, that this is a gap. It's missing now. It is also a cost of business, and it's a cost and expense being exposed by this.
In terms of funding for the continuation of the legislation, though, is that ongoing right now? I could be wrong, but if my memory serves, there were additional funds allocated for the implementation of CASL. Is that ongoing? Is it indexed to the cost, or was it one-time funding and it sits right where it is right now?
Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The indexing is a good question. I'll have to look at that.
We receive a particular amount of money to enforce CASL on an annual basis. The one-time cost that you referred is from when we operationalized the spam reporting centre. It cost us a few hundred thousand dollars to get that up and running. That was more of a one-time cost. We have operational costs for the spam reporting centre. I think perhaps you were referring to that one-time cost to establish that spam reporting centre that all of our partners use. We have operational costs there now.
Our funding is reasonably constant, and has been for the past three years, as far as enforcing CASL legislation is concerned.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Dan Ruimy
Thank you. Excellent.
I want to thank our guests for coming in today and for sharing some really good information. I think we have some work ahead of us. Again, thank you for your time.
We'll suspend for a few minutes before we go in camera to start our draft report of IP.
[Proceedings continue in camera]