Information & Ethics committee  A number of Canadians, innocent, ordinary Canadians, have come to me and told me--I've read about many more in the news--that they have been denied the ability to board a plane, that they have encountered pretty extreme harassment and inconvenience in their efforts to move across

Information & Ethics committee  It is a great example of why privacy impact assessments are so important. I would love to see the privacy impact assessment that was done on that particular government initiative. It also points out the need for really strong private sector data protection legislation so that th

Information & Ethics committee  No, our research actually has been limited to Canada, to trying to understand from the Canadian perspective what the information-sharing mechanisms and avenues currently in place are. I can give you an example. We've had people complain to us and to the Privacy Commissioner abo

Information & Ethics committee  I would like to say that this is of great concern.

Information & Ethics committee  Absolutely. We are extremely concerned about the recent actions by this government to block access to the CAIRS database. That is, in our view, a critical component of the current--now we're onto a different topic--access to information.

Information & Ethics committee  That's right. The Privacy Act issue really comes down, in my view, to a practical concern. When a private entity receives an order from the FBI, they have to figure out whether they need to comply or not and what are the consequences of not complying with that order. The idea is

Information & Ethics committee  My understanding is that that was, at least in part, what the B.C. government legislated; that is, the data has to remain in Canada and all the processing has to be done in Canada. I think Statistics Canada learned a lesson the hard way with the Lockheed Martin outsourcing. To

Information & Ethics committee  Absolutely. The theory in the private sector, at least where there's competition, is that this would create a market for Canadian companies to restrict their data sharing to sharing within Canada, and to advertise that and attract customers that way. Of course, that argument doe

Information & Ethics committee  Please forgive me, but I will answer in English.

Information & Ethics committee  I was worried about getting that question, because it's very difficult to prioritize here. Enforcement, I think, is a priority area. As I say, I find it astonishing that we have no mechanism to enforce our rights as citizens under this act, other than the access to information ri

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, I have her report with me. I think there's someone here from the Privacy Commissioner's office who may have extra copies. As I say, she is recommending as her number two recommendation that section 41 of the Privacy Act be amended to allow the commissioner and Canadians to

Information & Ethics committee  Okay. Right now the Privacy Act sets out a number of rights and obligations of government and rights of individuals, but it only allows the Privacy Commissioner and the individuals to go to court to enforce their rights in respect of the access to information rights. The require

Information & Ethics committee  On the transborder data flows, I believe we agree with everything she has proposed, and I'll just take a quick look again. We support her recommendations. In particular, I think it was the tenth recommendation of hers that addressed this, strengthening provisions governing disclo

Information & Ethics committee  No, I am not.

Information & Ethics committee  Again, I can't speak to that. You'd have to ask the Treasury Board officials.