Mr. Balsillie has made some very constructive recommendations around the need for a data strategy for Canada, to enable Canadian businesses and businesses competing in Canada to understand the data they have at hand and the business opportunity that is presented to them by capitalizing upon that data. The government certainly has an opportunity to create a nuanced strategy that helps Canada differentiate itself from the rest of the world, not just in the tech sector but in health, where we already have quite a lead in terms of dealing with health information, as well as agriculture, mining, and manufacturing.
A data strategy does not need to be as restrictive or prescriptive as Mr. Balsillie has suggested. In fact, a strategy that tries to box Canada in or creates obligations that are not either parallel or similar to those available elsewhere in the world will actually limit the opportunities available to Canadians to innovate, both in Canada and internationally. There needs to be consistency and predictability in any regulatory framework that's set up.
On a final point, I'd just like to underline that despite what Mr. Balsillie said, we do not sell the personal information of our users. We've built a business model that delivers services and products to users, relying on a personal relationship that uses the information they share with us to provide personalized services for them.
We support that broad array of services that are provided free to Canadians and everyone else in the world through advertising. It's advertising that's targeted at aggregated groups, not at individuals, and there's no exchange of personal information between Google and advertisers. It's simply recognizing that there's an economic transaction that needs to happen to provide those services, and advertising is the most common and convenient way to deliver that right now.