In the submission that we presented to your committee about a month ago, we addressed that important issue. We recommend the addition of preamble and purpose clauses in a new law that would firmly ground the federal legislation in trade and commerce. This could be done by having explicit language in a preamble or purpose clause to indicate that the purpose of the federal private sector law—Bill C-11 at this point—is to ensure viable and sustainable digital commerce by protecting privacy.
That would set the purpose of the federal law squarely in the jurisdiction that Parliament has under trade and commerce. Once that is done, then Parliament can legislate to protect privacy in the best way that it feels should be part of that law. If Parliament so decides, that could include, without infringing on provincial jurisdiction, a rights-based law.