November 27, 2023

The amended bill will allow the government, through the Governor in Council or Minister of Industry, to take steps to secure telecommunication systems in the case of a threat, interference, manipulation, or disruption. [...] The secrecy provisions of Bill C-26 could be made more focused by requiring, as a default, that such orders be issued publicly unless the Minister reasonably believes that publication is likely to increase the cyber security threats to the telecommunications system or the TSP subject to such an order. [...] The Canadian Chamber of Commerce submits that the Government of Canada should first work with TSPs to conduct an impact assessment of removing any given technology or service under the act to identify unintended consequences such as service degradation or the creation of new security concerns before such orders are made. [...] Given that the intent of the law is to strengthen the security of our 3 telecommunications infrastructure and that service availability is a key objective, consulting with providers in advance should be a necessary step, particularly given the substantial administrative and monetary penalties proposed for non-compliance. [...] The Government of Canada must establish clear and transparent criteria that consider the importance of the system/service/operator in the context of CI.