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Page 4 July 9, 2018 • law Times www.lawtimesnews.com NEWS NEWS NEWS tion, such as Pakistan, there are many European countries in particular where this will be an added hurdle, according to Green. Kris Klein, partner at nNo- vation LLP in Ottawa, says that while it appears the federal gov- ernment has considered the pri- vacy implications of this biomet- ric information, he is concerned that the Privacy Impact Assess- ment has not been made public in the interests of transparency. "If not the full PIA report, then a suitable summary would be welcome," says Klein. "In the end, however, the collection of biometric information, if done properly, is permitted in Cana- da." The Office of the Privacy Commissioner says it has been consulting with IRCC and has received multiple PIAs for dif- ferent phases and components of the biometrics project and expects an update to the PIAs for the collection of information from all visa and permanent res- idency applications. "We understand fingerprints will be destroyed once a perma- nent resident is granted citizen- ship. This is a positive feature," says Tobi Cohen, spokeswoman for the OPC. "It is also our understanding that the RCMP has the lawful authority to retain the finger- prints on behalf of IRCC and that, in doing so, strict secu- rity safeguards are to be main- tained." Cohen adds that the OPC has provided advice on the sharing of sensitive information for vul- nerable individuals on the safe- guarding of documents collect- ed by private-sector VACs and that the criteria for sharing bio- metric information with other nations be developed carefully. "We have asked that IRCC regularly evaluate and demon- strate the effectiveness of sharing immigration information in an automated and systematic fash- ion, as opposed to on a case-by- case basis, that the data elements to be shared are reviewed for ne- cessity and that visa applicants are clearly notified that informa- tion, including fingerprints, will be exchanged with international partners," says Cohen. LT Shoshana Green, partner with Green and Spiegel LLP in Toronto, says the measures put Canada in line with other coun- tries in the world when it comes to the collection of the data. Pre- viously, names and basic infor- mation were collected with the advent of eTAs, but biometrics will mean fingerprints and pho- tographs will now be required, including from travellers from countries that have visa-exempt status with Canada. "The challenge is from the countries where you don't need visas, and now you need this ad- ditional step, there will probably be some heartache initially be- fore the rest of the world figures it out," says Green. Green notes that when the Canadian government brought in the eTAs, there was a fraught roll-out period of deadlines for implementation that kept get- ting cancelled or extended. "Who knows what will hap- pen with this?" she adds. In the meantime, Immigra- tion, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has announced that, by December, it will open addi- tional Visa Application Centres in: Kigali, Rwanda; Stockholm, Sweden; Tel Aviv, Israel; Ath- ens, Greece; Berlin, Germany; Lyon, France; Vienna, Austria; Antananarivo, Madagascar; and Cape Town, South Africa. Cur- rently, temporary service points are being set up within the em- bassies of Stockholm, Athens, Berlin, Vienna and a leased commercial space in Lyon to collect biometrics in the interim. "There are going to be lots of people in lots of countries with- out VACs in their location," says Green. "It's not so simple now to come to Canada. That will likely impact business visitors as well as tourists meaningfully much more than it has in the past." Green says this requirement could impact the planning for international students, especial- ly those coming from countries without a VAC in them. "The international student market is so huge now that they really need to put that informa- tion out for those individuals," she says. While some countries are used to requiring this informa- Reducing the paper burden on court staff, extending Wi-Fi to courtrooms and online dis- pute resolution are some of the initiatives that have made prog- ress, she says. "Investments in court tech- nology would be an upfront ex- pense," says MacKenzie, who's been a vocal proponent for these investments. "In the medium to long term, improvements in court technol- ogies would pay for themselves." Finding money for those in- itiatives might prove easier said than done, says Lee Akazaki, a lawyer at Gilbertson Davis LLP and former president of the On- tario Bar Association. "The challenge will be to compete with other ministries, first of all to see if there are more dollars available for the justice sector, and keep cuts from being made from an already embattled court system," Akazaki says. There are also other pres- sures. Nathalie Des Rosiers, who was recently elected MPP for Ottawa-Vanier and the only Liberal MPP who is also a law- yer, says Mulroney will need to examine how the justice system will adapt to Jordan, where the Supreme Court ruled there was a ceiling of 18 months for prov- incial court cases and 30 months for Superior Court cases. She says there are currently "long delays in the civil justice system, because the criminal justice system is eating up all the resources." "In times of budgetary cuts or restrictions . . . resources are ne- cessary to ensure that the crim- inal justice system functions well," Des Rosiers says. Michael Spratt, partner at Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP in Ottawa, also says possible cuts to justice programs could have consequences. "If savings are sought through cutting of crime prevention programs, diversity training, respect fundamental rights, cutting legal aid budgets, they might save a little money to- day but cost much more money down the road," he says. Mulroney, 43, has also been appointed as the minister of Francophone Affairs. The appointment to the of- fice of attorney general comes after her victory in June's elec- tion, where she won the title of MPP for York-Simcoe. A graduate of New York Uni- versity's Law School, Mulroney was an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP in the Compen- sation, Governance & ERISA group, and she interned at the New York attorney general's of- fice. She has also worked as an investment executive and in the non-profit world. MacKenzie says Mulroney might bring her business acu- men to the position as she looks to make things run smoothly. Still, MacKenzie says, Mulro- ney might face a learning curve in some day-to-day aspects of the Ontario court system, hav- ing practised in New York. "The sooner she goes out to meet Crown attorneys first- hand, the better, because outside of the bigger municipalities, the Crown attorney is a leader with- in the community and offers a perspective on what's happening in the justice system," says Mi- chael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, who was Ontario's attorney general between 2003 and 2007 in the Liberal govern- ment. "[Mulroney could talk to] local members of the bar to get the defence perspective as well. I always benefited from hearing from all sides." New Democratic Party MPP Gilles Bisson of Timmins, who is the provincial critic for the Justice portfolio and House leader for the official opposition, says the direction Mulroney will chart is still unknown. "It's a wait-and-see kind of thing, what her actions will be over the next month or so," Bis- son says. LT Important for AG to meet with Crowns Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 © 2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00251KU-91325-NP Practical insight and advice on Regulatory Offences Available risk-free for 30 days Online: store.thomsonreuters.ca Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 | In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order # L7798-8605-65203 $225 Hardcover approx. 400 pages June 2018 978-0-7798-8605-0 Multiple copy discounts available Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 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