The departmental officials who appeared on Tuesday told us that the expression of interest and the visa application first went through the Canada visa application centres, which are private organizations that work in each country together with the Government of Canada. The Department of Immigration takes over the files once those organizations have verified that the information contained in the documents is truthful.
So this means that the information is forwarded first to private organizations in every country, not here in Canada. When I was in Venezuela last year, the ambassador confirmed that his applications did not in fact go through his institution first, but rather through a private organization. That is a problem.
Abuses have already occurred in England, where the same system is in use. So this is troubling. We are investing in security, but we could be exposed in the long run to civil lawsuits from other countries for failing to protect their personal information. This troubles me.