Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

Were it not for Michael Geist, a Canadian law professor, people might not know that the Canadian government was holding closed door discussions on eliminating citizens' right to privacy on the internet:

Public Safety Canada and Industry Canada have quietly launched a semi-public consultation on one element of lawful access. The new consultation, which concludes on September 25th, asks for comments on the provision of customer name and address information by telecommunications companies to law enforcement. The consultation has not been posted on the Internet and I was asked not to post it online.

Now that they've been caught, they have decided to open the discussions up:

The Public Safety and Industry Departments have been conducting a limited consultation, which was scheduled to end Sept. 25, on potential changes that would make it easier for police to get customers' personal information from Internet providers without a court order or other legal justification. Those invited to participate in the consultation process received a letter, and no information was made publicly available on any government Web site.

Now, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's office said it has decided to post information on the department's Web site and lengthen the consultation process by at least a few weeks to allow the public, as well as privacy and civil liberties groups, to have a say.

It concerns me more than a bit that the government clearly intending to change privacy laws without bothering to consult anyone who actually cared about privacy. I know that it is incredibly naive to even say this, but don't these people work for us? Why is it that as soon as someone gets into power, they forget that basic fact?