Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members.
I am pleased to be here today on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association. The CBA is a national association representing over 37,000 lawyers from across Canada. The association's primary objectives include improvement in the law and in the administration of justice, and it is with this perspective that we have examined Bill C-377. It's important to note as well that the CBA not only has regional representation but also tries to ensure that different perspectives are taken into account.
I am the chair of the national pension and benefits law section. We try to ensure that our executive not only has members from across the country but also has individuals who represent different types of clients. We have members on our executives who represent corporate interests, who represent pension funds, who are in-house at pension plans or consulting firms, and who represent members.
The submissions that were put before you have been supported and drafted by all members of our executive committee. Having looked at the bill, the CBA submits that the bill should not be passed into law due to a number of concerns, which are set out more fully in our written submissions.
We have highlighted four primary concerns. We have already heard some discussion about some of those earlier today. One overriding concern we have is a constitutional law concern. The Canadian charter enshrines and protects Canadians' freedom of expression and freedom of association. Bill C-377 would impose upon labour organizations and labour trusts, both defined terms under the bill, very substantive and, some would say, onerous reporting requirements and detailed statements.
These are not, as we've heard earlier, the same as those with respect to charities. These are not aggregate amounts that need to be reported; the way the bill is currently framed would require that information about transactions be recorded, including payer, payee, the purpose of the transaction, and a description of the transaction itself.
To the extent that this in any way places a restriction on individual Canadians' freedom of expression and freedom of association, the CBA believes that such a restriction would place the bill at risk of a charter challenge. Also the bill itself does not, on its face, set out a justification for these infringements.
Secondly, the CBA has in our submissions highlighted a number of privacy concerns. Since, under the bill, details such as payer, payee, names, and addresses would need to be reported, and to the extent that the bill requires the reporting and making publicly available of details of salary benefits for all officers, directors, trustees, and employees, we believe that it would infringe upon privacy concerns and existing privacy laws.
The bill also requires the disclosure of some of the most sensitive information relating to individual Canadians' political activities and beliefs, and again we believe that's inappropriate.