Thank you, Mr. Chair.
With the references to verifying identity and national security, the reasons we would use and disclose biometric information are narrowed. We collect biometric information to support the two aspects of immigration decision-making. One is identity and the other is risk assessment. Any visa or border officer deciding whether to admit somebody to Canada would look at who a person is and what risk they pose to Canada.
For identity, yes, we will use biometrics to verify identity. On the risk side, there are many reasons aside from national security why we would decide not to admit somebody to Canada. Criminal history, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are all listed separately from national security in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The amendment would have the effect of narrowing the uses we would make of the biometric information that we might collect.