Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, and your officials for attending here today.
I don't wish to appear mercenary, but the Canadian Council of Better Business Bureaus estimates that ID theft costs Canadian businesses some $2 billion annually. Despite some of the heartache from a personal perspective, the feeling of losing one's identity to some stranger, and all the ramifications in a personal way that go with that, I think we all realize that those costs are eventually passed down to the consumers. So an additional cost of $2 billion to our economic system is passed down to people at the very time when we're least able to absorb that type of loss. Therefore it's no small issue to us all. I'm wondering if you might comment on that.
This legislation contains several offences that prohibit the use of another person's identity, such as fraud and forgery, but it also includes many other aspects. I wonder if you can once again—for us and for the folks at home who are listening to this and are very hopeful that it makes a very expeditious travel through our system—explain the changes this bill proposes, and how section 4 strengthens the Criminal Code, in terms that most of us who perhaps don't have a legal background or legal training can understand.