Mr. Chair, the government does not support this amendment.
As Madam Péclet will know, the motion proposes to add to proposed section 487.0195 a requirement for telecommunications service providers to report to the minister on voluntary assistance. That would be incongruous with the scope of the provision, which simply clarifies the common law in jurisprudence and does not require nor authorize such assistance. Companies, as she will know, are subject to privacy legislation, which permits disclosure of personal information only in certain limited circumstances.
In our view, it would be a disproportionate reporting burden on the telecommunications sector. All other private sector industries, including banks, transportation, and hospitality service providers, are equally permitted under the common law to provide such assistance, but they are in fact not required to report such disclosures to anyone. On that basis, we will not be supporting this amendment.