Evidence of meeting #43 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was data.
A video is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
We monitor opinions online. I'm sure some companies monitor behaviours online, but I'm not familiar with any trends. I don't have any information to share.
Executive Director, Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
I'm aware of a study that is done, I think annually, by a major research company that happens to be a member of ours: TNS Canadian Facts. It monitors Canadians' attitudes towards things like online behavioural advertising, so the tracking that is done through cookies on their computers, and then the custom ads that are served up to them, and their like and dislike for that sort of thing.
I saw a study along those lines that is about a year old now. So our industry is monitoring that sort of thing.
NDP
Conservative
Brad Butt Conservative Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much for being here.
My first question probably would be for the Chamber of Commerce. When you are surveying your members or finding trends in what your members are looking at and in their use of social media, etc., obviously for doing business, for selling their products or for interacting with customers or whatever, are you finding that is becoming the largest trend for how companies are getting new customers and new markets? In marketing their products, are they shifting from traditional ways of contacting customers and moving more along this line, either through e-commerce opportunities, by having customers directly ordering product and services through their websites, etc.? Is that very much becoming a bigger and bigger trend as time goes on for Canadian businesses?
Senior Vice-President, Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
It is absolutely, and moving to an online environment must be one of the biggest trends ever in Canadian businesses.
Conservative
Brad Butt Conservative Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
I ran an association, too, before I became a member of Parliament, and it was an association for owners of apartment buildings. Of course, landlords have to keep personal information on their tenants and employees and others, and we found there was a lot more renting being done online, with people providing personal information about themselves as prospective tenants for renting apartments.
We really struggled with PIPEDA and what our responsibilities were. As an association, we actually went out and hired legal expertise to draft a standard privacy policy, to draft some regulations, to draft some wording, although it was very legalese wording. I wish it had been simpler, for people to understand so that they could actually place it on their websites and they could actually have it within their companies, so that our members were absolutely doing their very best—
Conservative
Merv Tweed Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
You can't do that.
On a point of order, you don't share information with the media on an in camera meeting. I'm sorry, you just don't do that.
Conservative
Conservative
Merv Tweed Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
You don't share in camera information with the media. Scott, think about it.
Shame on Kady for even walking up and asking for it. She knows better than that too.
Mr. Chair, I ask you to rule on that. This is not the way a committee is run.
NDP
The Chair NDP Pierre-Luc Dusseault
Certainly, at the moment, the meeting is not in camera. Like you, I also understand that the report is still in draft stage. So it would not be appropriate to make it available to the media or to anyone else who is not a member of the committee. The committee would greatly appreciate it if the copy of this draft report, which is not yet a public document, could be returned, if in fact it was given out. Okay, I am told that the copy was not given out.
So we can continue.
Conservative
Merv Tweed Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
I said you have a sick relationship with the media, sharing in camera information.
NDP
The Chair NDP Pierre-Luc Dusseault
We will suspend the meeting for a few minutes.
My thanks to the witnesses for coming here today.
We will come back to committee business a little later. I am sorry, Mr. Butt, but we are going to have to suspend the meeting.
NDP
The Chair NDP Pierre-Luc Dusseault
We now resume the meeting. We are discussing committee business. We have a number of items on the agenda, including the budget for the committee trip to Washington.
Mr. Del Mastro, do you want to say something?
Conservative
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
I would move that the committee go in camera for consideration of committee business.
NDP
The Chair NDP Pierre-Luc Dusseault
Mr. Del Mastro moves that the committee meet in camera. That motion is not debatable. A recorded vote has been requested.
(Motion agreed to: yeas 7, nays 4. ([See Minutes of Proceedings])
[Proceedings continue in camera]