BY SHONDELL SABAD, SENIOR STRATEGIC ADVISOR AT THE ALBERTA ENTERPRISE GROUP

At Alberta Enterprise Group (AEG), we believe in accountability, transparency, and trust – principles that apply as much to governments as they do to businesses.  That is why the federal government’s move to fast-track Bill C-4, also known as the Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act, should concern all Canadians.

This legislation updates federal privacy laws, imposing tighter controls on businesses and organizations, but explicitly exempts political parties from those same standards. As Michael Geist explains in The Hub, this is not just an oversight, it is a deliberate loophole. In a follow-up post on his blog, Geist points out that political parties already collect vast amounts of personal data, with almost no transparency or oversight.

History has shown us what happens when large institutions mishandle personal data:

• The Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed how political data could be weaponized to manipulate voters.
• In Canada, the Liberal Party’s 2019 campaign app inadvertently exposed personal data – highlighting how little regulation governs political data handling.
• High-profile breaches like Equifax (2017) and Desjardins (2019) forced private-sector reforms; however, political parties remain untouched by such obligations under Bill C-4.

By exempting themselves from these rules, political parties are removing the lock from the back door, making future data breaches not just possible, but inevitable and invisible.

So, we ask: Should we be concerned?

We believe the answer is yes.  If businesses are held to strict privacy laws, and rightly so, why are political parties held to a lower standard?

AEG urges all Canadians to consider the implications.  Privacy isn’t a partisan issue; it is a democratic one. Political parties ask for your trust, your vote, and your personal data.  They should be held to the same standard of care and accountability as any private-sector organization.

📖 Read Michael Geist’s full commentary in The Hub
📖 Read his follow-up post here