Government Operations committee  It means that each of the provinces has legislation on access to private information.

Government Operations committee  The second challenge is how the information itself is indexed. The way in which the data is recorded differs from one jurisdiction to another. To give you an example, Quebec has two birth certificates: one for people born in Quebec and one for people born outside Quebec, even tho

Government Operations committee  Can you answer that question, Gary?

Government Operations committee  That's correct.

Government Operations committee  But there are two issues, Madame Chair. If we are successful with the renewal program, hopefully we'll see a significant decrease in people applying at the counter.

Government Operations committee  No, but the thing is that across the system hopefully the savings that we will accrue by a definition of service at other counters could be transferred elsewhere in the system. The problem with local offices is that we have no means of knowing whether or not.... We know if this

Government Operations committee  It is about remaining at least within the financial parameters we have.

Government Operations committee  There are people who are doing nothing but that.

Government Operations committee  There are three major difficulties that hinder the exchange of information. First, the provinces themselves and the federal government do not have the same legal regimes for sharing personal information.

Government Operations committee  That is the first difficulty. The second deals with how the data are recorded. The computer systems are all different. Every province has its own system. The systems need to be standardized. The third difficulty has to do with technological infrastructure. Do we want a national

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  We have a plan. We are pursuing two avenues: one is to resolve the short-term problem, that is, this year and next year, given the increase in demand. That is one thing. There is also a longer-term plan to simplify renewal procedures and processes and to verify certain types of

Government Operations committee  The short term is under six months. The medium term is 18 months and the long term is over 18 months. The difficulty is that there are certain aspects that we have no control over. If the provinces do not want to cooperate to exchange information, statistics, we have to negotiat

Government Operations committee  I do not have them with me, but I presume that the Conference Board will take them into account when making their projection.

Government Operations committee  This is a pilot project whereby the federal government wants to verify birth certificates electronically and on time. For instance, was the applicant really born at that time and place? Can the province or the Quebec government confirm the facts? This is an attempt to develop a