I call the meeting to order.
Good morning, everyone. We'll get ready to get started.
I have some general comments I want to make, and then we'll begin by hearing from the deputy minister with respect to the issues before us.
You will have your earpieces, and there will be translation as we go. Of course we all know that ensuring the security of our personal data is a grave matter for all Canadians, particularly those who are affected.
It's the motion of Mr. Cleary, as amended by other members, that brings us before the committee. Essentially, I just want to say what the motion relates to.
It talks about a privacy breach, which of course is a matter of grave concern to all Canadians, particularly those involved. We are here to hear you explain how the privacy breach occurred, to explain what actions have been taken to ensure the security of personal data throughout the department, and what long-term solutions for affected Canadians will be put in place to protect their identity.
Those are the key and central issues, so you can expect questions in that area. After you've presented, each of the parties will be asking questions with regard to those three areas.
Of course, I'm not unmindful of the fact that the privacy commissioner is investigating this issue. The matter has been turned over to the RCMP, and there is a potential for class actions. There may be some in place as we speak. Those are also matters that I take into account.
My plan has been to proceed with questions and answers for each party at seven minutes as opposed to five minutes. I would ask the members to generally respect the time so that hopefully we can do two rounds of questioning. I know we have some committee business at the end, but I would hope to go through the two rounds of questioning fully if we could. If we run out of time, I would ask this committee that we defer that portion, but if we finish early then we can deal with it.
Those are my opening remarks.
With that, Mr. Shugart, we will let you go ahead and make your presentation.