Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, I would begin by indicating that I would endorse Mr. Dechert's comments. I do believe this is a significant response from the minister, a minister for whom I have a great deal of respect, who's working hard to bring laws that will make our communities safer and stronger and that will protect Canadians. We've heard just this week about a number of strong bills brought by this minister, who is working hard within his duties as the justice minister.
I think we should review a couple of the things that are clearly indicated in the letter.
To begin with, the Government of Canada is committed to protecting Canadians' personal information, and it appreciates the significant work undertaken by the committee in the report. He didn't throw away any of the work or disregard any of the work that has been done in the committee. He's merely reminding us in this letter that the recommendations made by this committee are substantial and that they will require not just an amount of work, but they will significantly change not only the way government does its business, but also what is required of government.
The Privacy Act is part of a strong legislative, administrative, and constitutional framework that protects the privacy rights of Canadians. Privacy is important. We all, I think inherently, believe that governments should be open, that there needs to be accountability. That's why we brought in and passed the Federal Accountability Act. We all know that it brings an awful lot of responsibility on governments to Canadians. That was something that was necessary, because we know when we assumed government that Canadians had lost trust in government. We're working to build that back.
At the same time, it is important that we balance off the need for openness in government with an individual's personal right to privacy, frankly, when no lens into that privacy is required. The government has concluded that legislative changes recommended in the committee's report are very complex. They could have a serious impact on government operations and national and international information-sharing agreements. So it could seriously impact us on international agreements.
We have to keep these things in mind. We're all elected to represent our constituents, but we assume a responsibility of leadership. In assuming a role of leadership, you have to look at issues and say, wait a minute, international agreements are pretty important to Canada. We're a trading nation. We're a member of the G-8. We're a member of APEC. We're a member of the G-20. We work hard in Foreign Affairs. We're working hard to re-establish connections with foreign governments, whether that be on trade or multilateral or otherwise. We know we're involved in a multinational approach in Afghanistan right now, for example, where Canadians are performing admirably in the Canadian military. These agreements are important. The changes this committee is recommending could impact on those important international agreements.
What the minister is saying is, for this reason, extensive study and stakeholder consultation is required before significant changes are made to the Privacy Act. You don't ham-handedly start whacking away at a substantial piece of legislation without considering the effects of that. That's what this committee would do. That's irresponsible.
As we've indicated—