Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Minister, for joining us again.
This is a very important bill, but my questions will probably be in the same vein as my colleague from the Bloc. I'm concerned about the provisions under proposed section 5.2, the transport security clearances. The bill was presented so as to refer to the international movement of goods, in that we have some responsibility to take over security requirements there. I think that's a very positive step. But what this bill does is to open up grounds under proposed section 5.2 to cover any part of our transportation industry that handles dangerous goods. In many cases, with common carriers, only part of their efforts involve dangerous goods, and many of their efforts are in other areas.
So the transportation security clearances under this would apply to much of our transportation industry. And since the regulations may be put in place to match the requirements that the United States is putting forward or has in place already, we may find these regulations to be overdone for a common carrier in Canada, or for part of our transportation net within the country, and might not be appropriate.
So that's one of the bases of the concerns we have. In Canada, as well, we are governed by our civil liberties and our rights of privacy. So how do you see these powers being prescribed to an international situation in the future? Or is this going to allow ministers in future days to continue to ask for more transportation security clearances for a variety of carriers in our industry?