Professor Forcese, in response to Mr. Dusseault's question about the necessity of the provisions of Bill C-51, were these necessary, or were existing laws in effect that were sufficient and allowed for sufficient sharing?
You mentioned the general override under privacy law, yet when a catastrophic crime such as Air India took place—and this was 30 years ago now—after the subsequent inquiries identified the failure in sharing between institutions, there was substantial outcry. In the event of a future crime of that scale, if it were discovered that law enforcement agencies had information in their possession but were unable or unwilling to share it, or feared to share it, I can only imagine the public outcry.
Sure, the public values privacy. We know that. We've heard that at this committee, and rightly so, yet the thought of law enforcement possessing information and failing to act on it would also be very upsetting to Canadians. If the override were good enough, I am not sure Canadians would agree with that. That act existed even 30 years ago.