Evidence of meeting #164 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was well.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9 a.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
—you said specifically in the media that you hope to see these in your platform. So you can try to come back from that comment, Minister—
9 a.m.
Liberal
9 a.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
You've publicly said that this will be in there. Have you not just admitted that there is not time to implement anything legally in this Parliament, and aren't you campaigning, going across the country, making these pronouncements on the public dime?
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
I made those remarks because when I was asked about a timeline, I said, “Look, if we can't get it into the legislative agenda, then clearly this would be something that we would have in our platform.” If we're fortunate enough to earn the trust of Canadians, then it would be in our second mandate.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
I question you about the timeline as well.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
I think transparency is very important, and I was transparent with my colleagues in the media as I am with you.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Minister, your proposed guidelines refer to protecting the data of Canadians. It was your government that created a data harvest program that would have compelled banks to collect Canadians' confidential financial information without their knowledge or their consent. Why should anyone trust you about protecting their data?
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
When it comes to the pilot project that you're referring to by StatsCan, we were very clear that it needs to be done in a thoughtful way. More importantly, StatsCan does great work. It's a great organization. We need good quality, reliable data. For example, if you look at the decision made by the previous Conservative government, when it came to the long-form census, 1,600 communities did not receive good quality, reliable data. We don't want to repeat those same mistakes, so we're very confident in the role of StatsCan and the work that it does. This pilot project was put on hold because of the issues that you have raised.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
One of your guidelines is, “Canadians will have control over what data they are sharing, who is using their personal data and for what purposes, and know that their privacy is protected.”
Minister, does that apply to data held by government, or government bodies like StatsCan?
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
I mentioned in my remarks, when I talked about the digital charter, that we're going to be updating and modernizing StatsCan as well. You'll see changes reflected in that as well. This also pertains to commercial activities, so PIPEDA—
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
I'm asking specifically about government bodies, Minister. Please focus. Will your so-called digital guidelines apply to StatsCan, yes or no?
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Minister, have you approved any other large-scale data collection activities from Canadians through private companies, whether mandatory or not?
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
I am very proud of the fact that we have reintroduced the mandatory long-form census. That's a decision that our government was very happy with, because it provided good quality and reliable data.
When it comes to the operational matters regarding StatsCan, the chief statistician is ultimately responsible for the operations of how it collects data.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
He is supposed to inform you when there's a change, though.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
It has to be clearly consistent with the legislation that exists and the principles that are highlighted.
9:05 a.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister, for being here.
Unfortunately, your legislation didn't make the Canadian chief statistician independent. That has continued to undermine Canadian confidence, given the antics of collecting the data information from the banks.
I want to move to page 3 of your presentation.
Minister, you mention the creation of 100,000 jobs under two programs. What is the name of the study that gives these results that there will be 50,000 jobs created, for example, in the supercluster over the next 10 years? Where was it published, who did the actual study, what was the sample size and what was the methodology of the study? Lastly, where is it available?
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
These pertain to the business plans that were proposed by the superclusters through a competitive process. We had technical experts and senior public servants look at those proposals. We also had—
9:05 a.m.
NDP
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
If I can respond, I would be more than glad to follow up.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
Yes. I'll get to it. You have to allow me a quick opportunity to do so.
We had senior civil servants look at the technical aspects of it from different departments, because—as I highlighted—these superclusters range from agriculture to advanced manufacturing, digital, artificial intelligence and oceans, for example. We also had third party consultants come in and evaluate the business plans to look at the modelling and the numbers. I can say with a high degree of confidence that the numbers I presented are extremely conservative—
