Thank you very much, Mr. Barrett, and thank you very much, Chair.
I'm going to again quote the Privacy Commissioner, who said that it's going to be “even more important to reassure Canadians” and that “we need to have that reflex of privacy by design and privacy at the front end.”
I must say, I was not quelled by the first group of departments that were here this morning. What I heard was, “We did not have the PIAs. Don't worry. We didn't use them on employees, but we used them in far more extensive and invasive other places.” I'm very concerned by that.
I will say that the committee agreed to communicate with all 137 federal institutions. It's unfortunate that, for these four organizations that are here today as models and as sort of a check on the other departments, this is the pressure that is on them this morning.
The last comment I'll make before I get to the questioning is that I find it ironic that the Privacy Commissioner actually learned of the invasion, if I can use that term, by the federal departments and agencies, from the government agency of Radio-Canada, which first posted this story. I think this is another very ironic piece of information, given this meeting this morning.
I'll start with you, Mr. Harroun, with the same question I used with your previous colleague.
Did your department procure surveillance gear that can be used to access employees' information and potentially the information of Canadians at large?