Only the most determined and financially able complainants will pursue their wrongdoers under this regime. Instead of being able to rely on consumers to discipline wrongdoers through the court system, the Commissioner will have to do so on their behalf. The Bill thus places an even heavier burden on the Commissioner than appears at first blush. A preferable approach would be to establish a small, accessible, inexpensive tribunal to handle enforcement and redress matters. One way to keep such tribunals accessible to the public may be to follow the Australian example of prohibiting lawyers from appearing on behalf of others.
Personal information is valuable.
There may well be cases in which such a penalty constitutes nothing more than a cost of doing business, from the perspective of the wrongdoer. Given the invisible nature of privacy violations, audits are an important tool for obtaining compliance, and should be available even where no complaints have been received. Even if our legislators get it right, Bill C-54 can only go so far. Not only is the federal government limited by the constitution and political realities within Canada, but domestic legislation can only address a fraction of this worldwide problem. Multinational firms require multinational responses.