Mr. Chair, the government does not support this amendment.
It is necessary that the peace officer or public officer be in a position to impose specific conditions when he or she demands the preservation of computer data, as this may assist in protecting the integrity of investigations. Police do not have trusted relationships with every holder of information in Canada. This provision allows police to place conditions on preservation demands which, as Madam May will know, only have effect for 21 days. The most likely condition is to prohibit the subject of the demand from disclosing that they received the demand. This is to ensure that a suspect in an offence does not become aware of the criminal investigation while it's ongoing.
On that basis, Mr. Chair, we will be opposing this amendment.