The problem we have with clause 107 of Bill C‑27 is that it threatens Quebeckers' right to pursue civil remedies, an issue that seems to have fallen off the radar in this bill, but that really worries us.
Based on this clause's current wording, the private right of action—the right to sue a company in a civil court under federal legislation—can only be exercised under very strict conditions: if the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has found that a company has failed to meet its obligations; if a compliance agreement has not made it possible to compensate the consumer; or if a fine has been imposed in one of the very specific cases set out in the bill.
Otherwise, the consumer cannot sue the company in a civil court, cannot sue for compensation, and cannot assert their rights in court. They could find themselves in a situation where the office of the commissioner, for example, did not accept the complaint they filed against the company or did not make a finding, thereby failing to meet the requirements set out in clause 107. The consumer would then be deprived of recourse in court and would not be able to sue the company in a civil court.
Option consommateurs is an organization that files class action lawsuits and pursues civil remedies before the courts. In many situations, it has launched class action lawsuits against tech giants. For example, it filed a lawsuit against Google. However, that class action lawsuit is not the result of a complaint handled by the office of the commissioner. If we had to interpret clause 107 of the bill strictly, such a class action lawsuit may not be able to take place.
As a result, in order to avoid endless constitutional debates before the courts, we ask that the legislator's intent be clarified, since it is not, I am sure, to limit remedies available to Quebeckers. To that end, we are asking that a subclause be added to clause 107 of Bill C‑27 indicating that it does not exclude provincial civil law remedies. The provincial remedies, the civil remedies, would then be in addition to the remedies set out in clause 107. That would solve a lot of problems and legal debates for us and would give consumers a great deal of access to justice.