Protect Canadian democracy: Sunset Bill C-4!

Every day, ordinary Canadians navigate a digital world where our personal habits are constantly tracked and used to surveil and manipulate us. We rely on privacy laws for protection. Yet, federal political parties are using Bill C-4 to exempt themselves from the laws everyone else follows, bound by no rules other than their own self-written privacy policies. In the age of AI, that is a massive threat to the health of our democracy.¹

The Senate has offered the House a compromise: a three-year sunset clause for C-4, during which they could create real, enforceable privacy rules for political parties.² But with less than a week until the House decides, rumours suggest MPs will reject the deal.

Tell them to accept the sunset clause and protect Canadian democracy!

To: Your Member of Parliament

Please feel free to edit your letter below.

Dear {contact_data~firstName} {contact_data~lastName},

As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to accept the Senate’s recent amendment to Bill C-4, which places a three-year sunset clause on the political party privacy exemptions in Part 4.

Every day, ordinary Canadians navigate an environment where our personal information is constantly being tracked, harvested, and categorized. We rely on robust privacy laws to maintain some level of control over our daily digital lives; these laws should be strengthened and expanded, not curtailed. Yet, Part 4 of Bill C-4 creates a systemic loophole, legally exempting federal political parties from the standard privacy laws that govern almost every other organization in the country.

I recognize the logistical argument presented by federal parties: navigating a patchwork of varying provincial privacy laws complicates national campaigns, and a uniform federal standard is highly preferable. However, a framework based entirely on self-regulation with no independent oversight does not constitute a valid national standard. It leaves everyday voters exposed to unchecked data collection and a dangerous future of AI-driven political microtargeting.

The Senate’s sunset clause for Part 4 of Bill C-4 is a pragmatic compromise. It provides the temporary jurisdictional uniformity that parties have requested, while enforcing a strict three-year deadline to establish a genuine, independently enforced federal privacy regime.

Canadians expect you to do the right thing and bring every federal party under real privacy law in the years ahead. With rumours circulating that the House may reject the Senate’s amendment within days, I expect you to prioritize the data privacy of your constituents over the structural convenience of your party. Please vote to accept the Senate's sunset clause.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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Currently, political parties harvest vast amounts of our personal data—from our online browsing habits to our financial demographics—to build highly specific profiles on everyday people. Under Part 4 of Bill C-4 (the "Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act"), federal parties have quietly included provisions that exempt themselves from provincial privacy laws, relying instead on "self-regulation" with zero external accountability.^3,4

The political establishment argues they need this exemption to ensure national consistency during elections, avoiding conflicting provincial rules. While a unified federal system makes logistical sense, a system without independent oversight is fundamentally flawed. Fellow democracies like France and the UK are fixing the problem, passing legislation that puts real privacy law on their parties.^5,6

Last week, the Senate recognized the danger and passed a critical amendment: a three-year "sunset clause." This means C-4’s exemptions will expire in 2029, forcing the government to write real, enforceable privacy laws for political parties in the meantime.^7,8

But we only have a few days before the House votes on whether to accept or reject the Senate's fix. Rumours are already circulating that MPs will reject the compromise to grant themselves permanent immunity. If we care about our democracy and our privacy, now is the time to act!

Sources

Safeguarding Canadian democracy in the age of growing digital disinformation – Policy Options
Senate Passes Bill C-4 While Sharply Criticizing Political Parties – OpenMedia
Could Canada's major political parties all agree on anything worse than this? – Toronto Star
4 reasons to be concerned about Bill C-4's threats to Canadian privacy and sovereignty – McMaster University
Guidance for the use of personal data in political campaigning – UK Information Commissioner's Office
Respecter les droits des électeurs sur leurs données personnelles – CNIL
Senate resists political campaigning privacy exemption by amending Bill C-4 – CCLA
Nobody Wants This: Senate Rejects Government's Anti-Privacy Plan for Political Parties By Sending Bill Back to the House With a Sunset Clause – Michael Geist

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Press: Matt Hatfield | Phone: +1 (888) 441-2640 ext. 0 | [email protected]