Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada: The records behind the repeal of the private right of action in the Anti-Spam Legislation
2 Oct 2026 · Access to Information Act · A-2026-00736
5 Oct: receipt acknowledged. The Department dates receipt 5 Oct, three days after the request arrived. Answer due 2 Nov.
Request under the Access to Information Act — the records behind the repeal of the private right of action in Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation on 31 December 2025 — with a request for a fee waiver under subsection 11(2)
Hello,
I make this request under section 6 of the Access to Information Act. I am a person present in Canada. Subsection 4(1) of the Act, as extended by the Access to Information Act Extension Order, No. 1, entitles me to make it.
CONTEXT.
Parliament enacted a private right of action against spam in sections 47 to 51 and 55 of S.C. 2010, c. 23 (Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation). An order in council fixed 1 July 2017 for those sections to come into force. On 2 June 2017 the Government withdrew that date by a further order in council (SI/2017-31) and fixed no other.
Every annual report under the Statutes Repeal Act from 2020 to 2024 listed those sections. Each year a resolution kept them alive. The report for 2025 listed them again. No resolution kept them alive in 2025. Under section 3 of the Statutes Repeal Act they were repealed on 31 December 2025. The Department administers Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation. The right of every person in Canada to sue a spammer ended without a vote.
RECORDS REQUESTED.
Period: 1 January 2020 to the date this request is received.
1. Records in which the Department considered, recommended or decided whether a resolution under section 3 of the Statutes Repeal Act should be sought for sections 47 to 51, 55, 68, subsection 89(2) and section 90 of S.C. 2010, c. 23, for each of the years 2020 to 2025, including communications on that question with the Department of Justice, the Privy Council Office, the Office of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and the Office of the Government Representative in the Senate.
2. Records that state why no resolution was sought or adopted for those provisions in 2025, and the name and title of the officer or Minister who made that decision.
3. Briefing notes, memoranda to the Minister, decks and analyses concerning the private right of action in sections 47 to 51 of S.C. 2010, c. 23, including any record on bringing those sections into force, amending them or letting them be repealed.
4. Records of communications between the Department and any business, industry association or law firm concerning the private right of action, its suspension or its repeal.
5. Where no record exists for an item, a statement to that effect for that item, naming the officer who conducted the search. The duty to assist in subsection 4(2.1) of the Act requires it.
Please exclude media monitoring, news clippings and material already published on the Department's website.
WITHHELD RECORDS.
For every record withheld in whole, state its date, its author, its recipient and the provision relied on. Paragraph 10(1)(b) and section 25 of the Act apply.
FEE.
Waive the application fee under subsection 11(2). The records concern the repeal, without a vote of Parliament, of a right that Parliament gave to every person in Canada. Every record released will be published in full at https://dzyuban.com/. If the fee is not waived, give the decision under subsection 11(2) in writing, with reasons and the name and title of the officer who made it.
DELIVERY.
By email, to this address. Confirm receipt with the file number and the date of receipt under section 7.
Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban