Last year, we held a special KnowledgeNet meeting in the Vancouver area, and it was quite successful. Based on this model, we’re doing it again September 8. If you’re out on the west side of this country, save that date and plan on being in Vancouver for another great event.

Apart from that event notice, I’m stuck this week trying to choose one or two stories to highlight in my opening notes. There’s just so much news that it is hard to say that one story is more eye-catching than another.

So my short list of top news stories this week is the following:

The Liberal government introduced new anti-terrorism legislation, which they said they would do to fix the elements of Bill C-51 from the previous government. The new bill is C-59, and it does a lot of things — but also doesn’t do a lot of things. Some think it effectively balances privacy and security. Others think it doesn’t go far enough in either direction, whether that means the public safety of the protection of our rights. If passed, it seems to be taking a serious approach to setting up effective oversight of our national security agencies.

There’s also a good Op-Ed by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association about how it’s taking the Legislature Assembly of British Columbia so long to find a permanent replacement for Liz Denham. Not that Acting Commissioner McArthur isn’t doing a good job, but it does seem rather silly how politics is getting in the way of an important process for an important job. 

Then there’s a really practical article about the average cost of a data breach. It’s in IT World Canada, and it’s a helpful piece if you’re trying to make a pitch for more resources to do privacy and security better within your organization.

Have a great weekend everyone … and remember to be in Vancouver September 8.