Your use of quotation marks around the notion of better representing people is significant, as it's really a matter of perspective. Some would say that the data isn't used to represent people, but rather to better target them. After all, we're only really talking about “some” citizens. You're playing semantics a bit, Mr. Bernier. We're not talking about the electorate as a whole.
You know just as well as I do that, when the leader of a political party addresses the Canadian people, they aren't talking to each and every Canadian man and woman, but indeed to a particular segment of the population, about issues that matter to those voters. They aren't really talking to however many Canadians are not in that particular segment. The analyses of polling data and personal information show that those other Canadians are much less likely to react positively to the party in question. So, we're playing semantics a bit, but the quotation marks you used in your remarks are very significant.
Data are in fact being used and transparency is therefore of critical importance. It lies at the heart of the issue we are facing today. The Canada Elections Act needs an overhaul to address, on the one hand, the issue of how political parties can collate data, and on the other, the whole question of research. The act allows political parties to spend money on research during a campaign, but it doesn't clearly define what is meant by research.
If we decide to allow political parties to compile personal information on voters in Canada, the issue needs to be well defined according to specific parameters, in the Canada Elections Act as well as in the Privacy Act.
We will need to make political parties subject to the regulations governing privacy protection and management of personal information. There is legislation on the books that restricts the types of related activities that different kinds of organizations can engage in, but it doesn't apply to political parties. These need to be brought back into the Canadian regulatory framework so that we may restrict what they do with their information and ensure that it complies with the basic principles of the Canada Elections Act. We also need to develop mechanisms that would ensure greater transparency within political parties.
Earlier, in response to a question posed by your colleague Mr. Kent, I gave the example of someone who accesses the Conservative Party of Canada's website. Whenever someone accesses your or any other party's website, a little window pops up to welcome them, asking for their e-mail address, and even their phone number and postal code. The data is then collated, but no one tells us what it will be used for. It would be easy to have a little dialogue box pop up with “Yes, I agree” and “No, I disagree” options that would alert the constituent as to the possible ways in which the political party in question might use their information.
It's still a bit like the wild west right now; we don't know what you're doing. That's why we need to make some key information available to people, but also to ensure that political parties are subject to new elections and privacy regulations.