An Alberta court has ruled that the ability of securities regulators to compel information and provide it to foreign authorities does not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) said Monday that Justice C.S. Anderson of the Court of Queen’s Bench has ruled that provisions of the provincial Securities Act that allow the ASC to compel information during a regulatory investigation and provide it to a foreign agency — in this case the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — do not violate the charter.

Scott Beaudette challenged the constitutionality of those provisions in the face of an ASC investigation into Sunpeaks Ventures, Inc.; a company where he was formerly president and CEO. According to the decision, “Beaudette’s concern, briefly stated, is that information compelled from him by the ASC will be shared with U.S. authorities and could result in criminal prosecution in the United States.”

Ultimately, the court concluded that the provisions of the provincial securities laws do not violate the Charter. It notes that “the Supreme Court has held that a balance must be struck between an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy and the state’s legitimate interest in obtaining and sharing information … [and] that the reasonable expectation of privacy in the heavily regulated securities industry is low.”

The court notes that Beaudette has not been charged with any offence in Canada. “If, at some point, he is charged with an offence in the United States and his compelled evidence is used against him in the prosecution of that offence in that jurisdiction, that is a matter of U.S. law and it is not the place of this Court to try to forestall that possibility through a strained interpretation of our own law,” it said.