Mr. Chair, the government's position is that this amendment should not be supported. It's essentially the same point we were making on the last amendment, which is that excluding “computer program” from the definition of “transmission data” does not make sense, because computer programs are used within commercial telecommunications infrastructure to permit all devices such as phones, computers, laptops, and modems to be identified, activated and configured.
Canadian jurisprudence has already established that a device includes a computer program, and the government's provision simply codifies the common law and makes clear that a transmission data recorder could be either hardware or a computer program. Some transmission data recorders may be hardware, and some may be software, but, as I hope the member knows, most actually combine the two.
The exclusion of “computer program” from the definition of “transmission data recorder” does not, in our view, correspond to existing technology. Therefore, we will not be supporting this amendment.