I think that you want to understand how the personal information and data protection tribunal affects consumer rights.
As I said earlier, we have mixed feelings about the personal information and data protection tribunal. We would rather the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada have the power to impose administrative monetary penalties.
However, in our view, the personal information and data protection tribunal isn't the biggest issue. Our main concern isn't the tribunal. It's all the other common law courts where a consumer could bring proceedings against a company on the basis of the new federal privacy legislation. There's a major problem. The current bill contains a significant restriction that could undermine consumers when they want to use this legislation before the courts.
The issue isn't the personal information and data protection tribunal. The issue lies outside the criminal process, including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the new data protection tribunal. In our view, Bill C‑27 seriously impedes, or at least threatens to impede, the civil process.
I'll talk about Quebec. It's the only area that we know well, obviously. Quebec has its own privacy legislation, which has more teeth than the legislation on the table today. Quebec also provides for civil remedies. If a company fails to meet its obligations under federal legislation, I can turn to the civil courts in Quebec to assert my rights.
We think that the current bill carries risks. We can't predict what the courts will say about the scope of section 107. We're worried that it could lead to long legal debates. We would like MPs to ensure that this bill doesn't interfere with civil remedies. We're very concerned about this issue. We urge you to take action to protect consumer rights in Quebec, in order to ensure that consumers can pursue remedies under this legislation, should the need arise.