TOPIC

As the ways in which people can communicate with each other increase (new features and functions for traditional phones, cell phones, digital wireless phones, e-mail and instant messaging) it has become easier for criminals to communicate and more difficult for law enforcement to obtain lawful access. The current legal provisions, agreements and techniques relating to lawful access are strained. In response, the Department of Justice together with the Portfolio of the Solicitor General and Industry Canada published a consultation document on lawful access that proposes ways of addressing this problem.

The speakers will provide an overview of the Lawful Access – Consultation Paper and discuss concerns that it has raised.

A copy of the Consultation Document on Lawful Access is available at http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/cons/la_al

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Jay Thomson, President, Canadian Association of Internet Providers

JAY THOMSON is President of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), the only national industry association in Canada representing a broad and diverse range of Internet access/service providers (ISPs) and Internet hardware/software suppliers. He is responsible for leading and managing CAIP’s strategic planning, finances, policy/regulatory/legal activities, government relations, internal and external communications and member services. Prior to joining CAIP, Mr. Thomson worked for ten years at the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), where he was Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs. Before CCTA, he worked as a policy analyst in various departments at Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulatory agency, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), where he had undertaken his legal articles in 1986. He began his career in the communications field as a radio announcer in Northwestern Ontario. A member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Mr. Thomson obtained his LL.B from the University of Victoria in British Columbia (1985) and a BA from Acadia University in Nova Scotia (1980).

Norman Wong, Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice

Mr. Wong has been counsel with the Criminal Law Policy Section since March 2000 and works primarily in the area of computer crime policy. He was part of the Canadian delegation to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on Crime in Cyber-Space (PC-CY), the committee that drafted the Convention on Cyber-crime. Normand also participated in the drafting of the Commonwealth Model Law on Computer and Computer Related Crime. He has been with the Department of Justice since 1997. He has two B.A.s from the University of Ottawa (1987) and McGill University (1989 – Communications) and attended the University of Windsor (1994) for his law degree.