Were you hoping for a quiet summer on the privacy front? I sure hope not, but if you’re still doing work-from-home, perhaps you can bring your buzzing phone and laptop into the backyard and enjoy a lemonade (or dare-I-say a margarita if it’s past 5 p.m.) while you’re at it.

From what I can see, privacy pros of all kinds in Canada are very busy with privacy work right now.

There are also two major things requiring some urgent and additional effort this summer: (1) getting ready for Quebec’s Bill 64, which will come into effect in the fall, and (2) digging into Canada’s Bill C27, which will hopefully be debated as soon as Parliament returns.

Sorry to be the bearer of this news, but September is only six weeks away, by the way!

These issues are expected to have a major impact on how we do our work, both as privacy pros and as organizations trying to advance other important values at the same time. And let’s just say they’re not without their complexities and complications. So, with this, I encourage everyone to get organized, participate, and take full advantage of all the great resources and educational activities the privacy community is putting out there.

It's also worth noting that we’re bound to be affected by some recent leadership changes at the regulator level. The new federal privacy commissioner, Philippe Dufresne, has already started in his role at the OPC. It’s great that he’s been meeting various stakeholders right out of the gate. I recently had a chance to meet with him, where I emphasized what a dedicated, smart and friendly bunch we are in privacy. The truth is, I didn’t need to tell him this — he said it’s something he’s already been observing. Just to let you know, I’ve put him on notice that we’ll want him to deliver an annual address to the privacy profession at the Symposium and participate in our not-scary game show. Sounds like he’s game!

Another leadership change with the regulators is that Diane McLeod-McKay will be taking on the role of Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, starting Aug. 1. Many of you know that she is no stranger to privacy and was most recently the Yukon Ombudsperson. With that, a big congratulations to Commissioner McLeod-McKay and also to Jill Clayton, who has done so much for privacy in Alberta and in Canada — it’ll be interesting to see what she does next!