Thank you for your question.
You’ve alluded to the G7 leaders’ statement. The G7 privacy commissioners, including me, had our own meeting here, at Meech Lake. In June, we issued a unanimous statement on the importance of prioritizing privacy for two reasons: to promote innovation and the economy and to protect children and young people.
We alluded to the leaders’ statements on these items, and provided concrete examples including considering the best interests of children and young people when technologies are designed, developed and brought to market; underscoring the importance of privacy at the beginning, and not at the end; and underscoring the importance of transparency and communication with Canadians to create trust.
That is why some people tend to say that a strong privacy regime can stifle innovation. I challenge that, and our G7 statement also challenged that. The statement clearly says that it will promote innovation and support economic development because it will build public and consumer trust in this new technology. This can be seen in the surveys I alluded to earlier. There are concerns on this issue. It’s therefore essential from a fundamental rights standpoint if we want to protect children, women, seniors and the rest of us when it comes to our freedom and our dignity. Furthermore, pragmatically, it will support the global economy and Canada’s economy in particular. We sent a strong message here in Ottawa. I was very proud of that statement, and we are still promoting it here and beyond.