Thank you, Minister.
The hour has gone by awfully quickly. I'd like to use the chair's prerogative just before you depart to ask a question relating to biometrics. It's a question in three parts. I understand the legislation was brought in in 2012 and that the main purpose of biometrics is to confirm identity. As you mentioned earlier, it brings us in line with a number of our allies and their standards.
My question is, first, is the biometric information kept in individual files, or is there a separate and secure database in which all the biometrics are kept?
If it is a separate database, what are the protocols that would allow other departments access to that database?
The third part of the question is, given that this is just a measure that was brought in for collecting information to confirm identity, when permanent residents become citizens, what are the procedures in place to remove those individuals from that database or the information from their personal files?