Keeping Secrets (Federal & Provincial): 1) New government bill would help police, spy service probe online activities; 2)Ontario to make premier, cabinet ministers’ records secret as it tightens FOI laws

1) New government bill would help police, spy service probe online activities

Proposed legislation would give police and Canada’s spy service new powers to investigate online activities — powers they say they need to keep pace with criminals in the digital age.

The bill tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday would require internet and phone companies to tell authorities whether they provide service to a particular person or account number. 

The legislation would allow police to then seek a production order from a court to obtain subscriber information from a company, such as the name, address, phone number and services provided. 
The bill also updates warrant powers for computer searches and proposes a new authority to allow Canadian police to make requests of foreign electronic service providers, including social media and AI chatbot companies.

The government says police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service need new tools to investigate national security threats and organized crime because existing laws have not kept pace with changes in technology and court rulings.

A previous version of the bill alarmed civil liberties advocates who said it would allow authorities to demand to know whether a person has an online account with any organization or service in Canada — which could risk exposing a person’s medical information or other private details. 
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree indicated a willingness in recent months to retool the legislation.

“We’re not looking for sneaky ways to surveil Canadians,” he told a news conference Thursday. “We’re doing our part to combat bad actors in both the physical and digital worlds.”
Deputy RCMP Commissioner Bryan Larkin called the new bill “a significant step forward which gives us tools that we currently don’t have.”

Under the proposed law, authorities could demand that a telecommunications company or internet service provider — but not a hotel, car rental company or medical facility — reveal whether it services a phone or account number of interest.

The government says police would need reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or will be committed, and would have to demonstrate that the information would be helpful in investigating that offence.
Police would need to give the telecommunications provider at least 24 hours to confirm or deny whether it provides services to a specific person or account number.

The service provider would have five business days to apply to a court to challenge the demand, and would not have to hand over information until the court had made a final decision. A court could amend or revoke the demand.

Currently, police can obtain a general production order from a court to go further and obtain subscriber information, such as the name and address linked to an account.
The government says this can take time. The new legislation would create a narrower court order that would allow police to seek subscriber information from a service provider.
Police would need to apply to a judge and establish that they have reasonable grounds to suspect criminal activity.

Police would also need to satisfy the court that subscriber information will assist their investigation. The proposed law would not allow authorities to obtain private communications or content, such as text messages or emails.

The service provider could apply to the court to challenge the request for a production order.

The bill would also: clarify that police are not required to obtain court approval to accept information that is publicly available, or that is given to them voluntarily; allow police to seize certain types of information in emergency situations, such as a terrorist episode; create the means for Canadian police to obtain court approval to request subscriber information and transmission data from a foreign organization in the context of a criminal investigation.

The bill would also establish requirements for key telecommunication service providers to develop and maintain technical capabilities so they are able to respond to requests from police and CSIS quickly and accurately.

The legislation would allow the public safety minister to issue targeted orders compelling an electronic service provider to develop specific capabilities — for instance, the ability to track a person’s location through their cellphone.

A service provider that fails to comply with obligations under the law could face fines or other penalties.

2)Ontario to make premier, cabinet ministers’ records secret as it tightens FOI laws

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Allison Jones and Liam Casey, March 13, 2026

Ontario is set to make Premier Doug Ford and cabinet members’ records secret as it “modernizes” freedom-of-information laws, which critics say will dramatically curtail public scrutiny of the political process.

Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Minister Stephen Crawford, however, said his government is still “one of the most transparent governments in the history of Ontario,” citing an open data catalogue, an audit of a regulator and a move eight years ago to publish financial information from the former Liberal government.

“We’re very focused on transparency,” he said at a press conference.

The changes will be retroactive and may put in jeopardy numerous ongoing battles by news organizations fighting for information about the Greenbelt scandal and Ford’s cellphone records. 

Once enacted, the new law will mean that records of the premier, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and their offices would no longer be subject to freedom-of-information laws. Members of the public could still request records held by public servants in government ministries.

“Ontario is one of the only jurisdictions in Canada without explicit protections for records belonging to cabinet ministers or their offices,” Crawford said. 

“This weakens clarity of protections for cabinet decision making and undermines the candidness of critical confidential discussion. Ministers need to be able to receive candid, evidence-based advice.”

Records that would reveal cabinet deliberations or advice to government are already exempted under the current law.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the move is indicative of a government dodging accountability.

“Doug Ford is changing the rules to make it easier to hide the truth,” he wrote in a statement. “We need more honesty, accountability and transparency from this government, not less.”

That law was written nearly 40 years ago and needed to be updated, Crawford said. 

“The methods of communication were very different,” he said. 

“We didn’t have smartphones. We didn’t have cyber threats. We didn’t have cloud computing. I mean, when this legislation was written it was 10 years before the Spice Girls were a thing. So that’s how long ago this legislation was written. It didn’t contemplate the modern world that we’re in today.”

Crawford did not explain the connection between the advent of smartphones and a need to restrict public access to cabinet ministers’ records, but NDP Leader Marit Stiles said she believes they want to avoid having to disclose records like text messages.

“I actually think this is why these laws are more important than ever,” she said. 

“Obviously we don’t all write letters to each other anymore on notepads, right? It’s changed, and the laws should keep up with that, but what they should be doing is expanding access, not actually removing access to that information.”

The province will also lengthen freedom-of-information response timelines from 30 calendar days to 45 business days, or about 63 days.

Crawford said the province’s auditor general and information and privacy commissioner will still be able to compel cabinet to produce records.

He said the move to shield cabinet from records requests is in line with most other provinces in the country as well as the federal government.

Proposed cybersecurity measures also announced Friday include requiring institutions such as hospitals and universities to assess cybersecurity every two years and report critical incidents to the government. School boards would also have to notify parents when third-party software uses a student’s personal information.