New Alberta law (Danielle Smith) on privacy of databases slowed down watchdog's responce. Was this intentional?

[applegrove]

— The Globe and Mail (@theglobeandmail.com) 2026-05-07T20:03:37Z

[Spazito]

1. Indirectly, I would say yes...

I don't think the law was expressly changed so this specific breach could happen but I do think the change in the law was done to stop Elections Alberta from being able to investigate breaches of privacy as they used to. Under the old law, Elections Alberta would have acting much more promptly on this breach given it had been first informed of it on March 31 by reporter Jen Gerson.

Edited to Add: The Globe and Mail appears to have a paywall. I found another article in the Edmonton Journal about this and there wasn't a paywall for me so hopefully others can access it, here's the link:

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/data-breach-of-2-9-million-voters-under-investigation-as-elections-alberta-flags-limits-of-new-law

[applegrove]

2. Thanks for your insight. Republicans and Palantr seem

laser focused on data. No surprise Danielle Smith lessened the laws around privacy. She's MAGA.