Thank you.
I'll move on to section 24, then, as well. One of the Information Commissioner's proposals that concerns me is his strong recommendation to repeal section 24 and schedule II in their entirety.
From what I understand, section 24 was put in place to provide a higher level of protection than that afforded by the other exemptions in the act. Further, I would think after perusing the list of provisions protected by section 24 that many of them pertain to national security, law enforcement, and the protection of personal privacy.
At the same time, I understand that schedule II, where the confidentiality clauses in other statues are listed, now contains considerably more than it did in the mid-1980s. Undoubtedly this is an issue that our committee should examine. However, given the types of highly sensitive information that are protected by this exemption, I frankly don't understand how one reaches the conclusion that the whole exemption needs to be abolished. Certainly I can't envision adopting an approach without there having been an extensive and in-depth research and consultations with affected entities such as Statistics Canada, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, CSIS, and so on.
Minister, would you agree with me that there must be some alternatives other than the complete repeal or the status quo?