Thank you very much, Mr. Goguen. I know that you've also had a long-standing interest in this particular area, as does Mr. Dechert. This bill, we believe, does strike the proper balance, but to be clear, what we're attempting to do here is not to in any way create a new protection for criminal or civil liability for those who voluntarily assist law enforcement. What we are very much attempting to do here, obviously, first and foremost, is to protect people from online criminal activity.
You highlighted, as would I, the importance of protecting children. We know there has been a massive proliferation of hand-held devices and online activity, which, quite frankly, leaves children vulnerable. We've seen extremely insidious behaviour, including luring of children, including the type of very detrimental behaviour that led to the incredible tragic circumstances around the loss of life of Rehtaeh Parsons, Amanda Todd, Todd Loik, and other youth across the country who have suffered tremendous distress, to the point where they took their own lives. I've met with a number of those family members, as I know you have, and the ramifications for this are still being felt certainly in those families and communities.
We've introduced this bill, which is now in a place where it will receive rigorous examination. We have done so after tremendous consultation, not the least of which included a report from my provincial counterparts. We heard quite definitively from our provincial and territorial counterparts about the need to move in this direction.
Again, I want to stress that the provisions here provide protection for those who participate in the provision of information and do so voluntarily, but still they must do so in a way that is consistent with other Criminal Code provisions and other provisions with respect to the handling of information. PIPEDA plays a very important role in determining whether those provisions have been followed to the letter of the law.
Again, I would suggest to you that persons who disclose personal information without a warrant have to do so in accordance with the law. This does not create new protections or in any way afford some sort of blanket protection for individuals to provide private information. That is not the intent of this bill. The intent is to, in fact, buttress the protection for those who may fall prey or may fall victim to online criminality.