Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses. I know the tremendous amount of work you've all done in preparing to be here today, and I want to thank you for the amount of time you've spent with me over the last number of months to expand and have a two-way conversation on how we can improve this bill. It's really three bills and a complete replacement of the Privacy Act, which is why it's so comprehensive and huge for us to deal with. If we passed the artificial intelligence bill, we'd probably be the first country in the world to actually get one passed, because one hasn't really been passed yet that I'm aware of.
Maybe I can start, because I have limited time.
Mr. Balsillie, as the co-founder of one of Canada's most iconic companies, BlackBerry, which we were all addicted to at one time—I wish I still were—you have some expertise on the idea of innovation and what it takes to do innovation while balancing that with protecting people's privacy. This new Liberal bill, which is on the privacy side, is a bit of a rehash of a bill from the last Parliament, which didn't make it through. In my view, it puts the interests of corporations ahead of those of the individuals and the protection of their privacy, since the purpose section, which is proposed section 5, says that the protection of personal privacy and the fundamental right of businesses to access that information are of equal importance. A subsequent series of clauses actually give businesses more say, including proposed section 18 on legitimate interest and the exceptions to express consent.
Do you agree that it's putting the interests of large corporations and corporations in general ahead of individual privacy rights?