I think having the date of birth on the official list that will be held by the returning officer will give us a considerable improvement over the present system.
It's not just a question of the charter; it's a question of balancing and being proportional as to what information we want to release about people. It seems to me that providing the date of birth on the official list helps identify, and I think that helps to improve the integrity of the system.
In my opinion, there wasn't as strong an argument for individuals' birthdates to be made available to basically everyone else, which is what the case would be. Quite apart from any legal requirements, I believe some Canadians--not all, but some--are sensitive to the fact that their birthdates would be known. Unless it is absolutely necessary for it to be public knowledge, it's my inclination not to make it public. That's why we differentiated in the lists that would be provided to political parties and the official list that would be kept by the returning officer. That was the reason for the distinction.