Canada’s Governing Infrastructure Is Under Strain
Committee hearings reveal a pattern of institutional friction, as Canada’s foundational systems struggle with outdated laws and a failure to execute.
Parliamentary committees heard from the watchdogs overseeing privacy and lobbying, senior officials on border security, and experts on resource development. While the topics were distinct, the underlying message was consistent. The core machinery of government, whether tasked with protecting your data, securing the border, or managing natural resources, is showing signs of significant wear. What follows is a look at the evidence, from the commissioners warning of legal loopholes to the front-line officers describing a system at its breaking point.
The Watchdogs’ Warning
Your privacy and the transparency of government lobbying are overseen by independent officers of Parliament. This week, both the Privacy Commissioner and the Commissioner of Lobbying delivered a stark message to MPs: they are working with broken tools.
Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne stated that Canada’s privacy laws were designed for a “pre-digital time”. He explained that his office lacks the basic enforcement powers common in other countries, such as the ability to issue orders or impose fines. Without them, compliance relies on recommendations and lengthy court battles. This weakness is particularly concerning as the government tables new security legislation, like Bills C-2 and C-8. Mr. Dufresne expressed concern that these bills grant sweeping new powers—including secret orders to disable telecommunications—without adequate safeguards like criteria for necessity and proportionality.
Meanwhile, Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger was blunt, stating a review of the Lobbying Act is “long overdue,” having been stalled since 2017. Her testimony highlighted two major loopholes. First, the current threshold for registering as a lobbyist is so high (a standard she is lowering) that a significant amount of lobbying occurs without any public transparency. Second, the act doesn’t apply to anyone who isn’t paid, creating a class of “shadow lobbyists” who can advise cabinet without any disclosure. Like the Privacy Commissioner, Ms. Bélanger also lacks a modern toolkit. She cannot issue fines or other administrative penalties, forcing her to refer every offence, big or small, to the RCMP—a process she described as inefficient.
What does this mean for you? The officials charged with protecting your fundamental rights and ensuring government transparency are running on outdated software. They see new threats coming but are equipped with analog tools in a digital world.
A Border Under Pressure
The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security heard testimony that painted a grim picture of Canada’s ability to manage its border. The issues identified were not isolated but systemic, spanning technology, law, and personnel.
A Failure of Execution and Cooperation
First, there’s the physical border. Tim Nohara, a radar technology expert, explained that Canada and the U.S. jointly pioneered persistent radar surveillance on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway, a primary corridor for trafficking guns, drugs, and people. Yet, while the U.S. continued to expand its network, a key RCMP project to do the same on the Canadian side, budgeted in 2014, was effectively abandoned. The technology is proven and available, but Canada is no longer doing its part.
This failure of execution is compounded by a legal framework that actively undermines cooperation with our most important security partner. Journalist Samuel Cooper testified that Supreme Court rulings on evidence disclosure (Stinchcombe) and trial delays (Jordan) have created “judicial blockages” that impede joint investigations with American agencies like the DEA. This, combined with high-level corruption cases like that of Cameron Ortis within the RCMP, has led to a deep loss of trust. According to Cooper’s sources, the relationship has deteriorated to a “near rupture,” with U.S. agencies now hesitant to share sensitive intelligence with their Canadian counterparts.
A Hollowed-Out Agency
The situation on the front lines appears just as dire. Mark Weber, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, described a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in crisis. The agency is top-heavy with middle management, while front-line officer positions remain unfilled, leading to burnout and an “absolutely toxic culture”.
Worse, Mr. Weber argued the agency’s focus has shifted from security to “facilitation,” increasingly replacing officers with automated kiosks that rely on travelers to self-declare illicit goods. He noted that huge security gaps remain, including the fact that virtually no rail cargo coming into Canada is inspected. To cap it off, CBSA officers are legally mandated to enforce the law between official ports of entry but are forbidden from doing so, forcing them to cede their responsibility to the RCMP and other police forces.
Squandered Opportunities
The challenges extend to Canada’s management of its natural resources. Testimony at two different committees, one on critical minerals and another on fisheries, pointed to a disconnect between strategic goals and on-the-ground reality.
Critical Minerals and Broken Strategy
At the Natural Resources committee, experts outlined the immense challenge of building a critical minerals supply chain to compete with China, which currently controls 100% of the market for key materials like battery-ready graphite. Professor A.E. Williams-Jones argued that Canada’s strategy is flawed. It focuses on remote northern projects with massive infrastructure hurdles instead of exploring promising deposits close to existing infrastructure in southern Canada. Furthermore, Canada is underinvesting in the complex metallurgical research required to efficiently extract these minerals from the ore, meaning much of the resource goes to waste.
The Port of Saguenay, for instance, presented itself as a ready-made hub for processing and shipping these minerals, with deep-water access and connections to a northern rail line that could be upgraded at a relatively low cost. However, making it a reality requires coordinated investment that has yet to materialize. For companies, the biggest hurdle is financial. Eric Desaulniers, CEO of a graphite development company, explained that attracting private capital requires government to help de-risk projects through financial tools like long-term offtake agreements and contracts for difference, which are needed to compete with China’s state-backed industry.
Mismanaging the Fisheries
A similar story of mismanagement emerged at the Fisheries and Oceans committee. Fishers testified that the much-hyped reopening of the unit 1 redfish fishery has been a failure, with only a fraction of the total allowable catch (TAC) being landed. Why? The fishery was opened with overly restrictive management rules that made harvesting difficult, and years of debate over quota allocations meant crucial market development never happened.
Meanwhile, the process for awarding new exploratory lobster licenses in Quebec was described as divisive, unfair, and lacking in both scientific data and local consultation. Fishers told the committee that adjacency principles were applied inconsistently, with licenses being granted to people from hundreds of kilometers away while local operators, some in struggling fleets, were shut out. The result, they said, was conflict on the wharves and a missed opportunity to share a public resource equitably.
The Data Brief
Outdated Tools: Canada’s privacy, lobbying, and criminal laws are struggling to address the challenges of the digital age and sophisticated transnational crime, leaving regulators and police without the powers they need.
Execution Failure: Key strategic projects, from a critical border surveillance network to a long-overdue review of the Lobbying Act, have been stalled for years, leaving Canada vulnerable and falling behind its allies.
Hollowed Capacity: Front-line agencies like the CBSA are reportedly suffering from a toxic culture, a surplus of managers, and a shortage of officers, undermining their core security mandate.
Process Breakdown: Resource management decisions in both mining and fisheries appear hampered by a lack of coherent strategy, poor consultation, and inconsistent application of rules, creating conflict and squandering economic potential.
Source Documents
Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. (2025, October 6). Evidence, Number 007, 45th Parliament, 1st Session.
Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. (2025, October 7). Evidence, Number 005, 45th Parliament, 1st Session.
Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. (2025, October 7). Evidence, Number 006, 45th Parliament, 1st Session.
Standing Committee on Natural Resources. (2025, October 6). Evidence, Number 005, 45th Parliament, 1st Session.
Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. (2025, October 7). Evidence, Number 005, 45th Parliament, 1st Session.
Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. (2025, October 7). Evidence, Number 005, 45th Parliament, 1st Session.
Subcommittee on Private Members’ Business of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. (2025, October 7). Evidence, Number 001, 45th Parliament, 1st Session.