I would simply like to respond to the parliamentary secretary's comment. I do not think it is up to him to judge whether the information in question here is less personal than any other. Some witnesses said this information was as sensitive and personal as electronic communications. So I simply want to remind the parliamentary secretary that it is not up to him to judge what is personal or not.
This amendment simply asks that the minister report to parliamentarians on the information of Canadians that the government is sharing. We are not asking for much here. We are only seeking transparency.
The Supreme Court was clear: Canadians have a right to know what the government does with their personal information. That information must not be shared completely in the dark, without guidelines. That is important. This amendment makes no change to the way the act is enforced. It simply adds an oversight mechanism. It in no way changes the powers the government wants to give to public officers or telecommunications companies. We are simply asking the government that the people who make these requests and the minister be accountable to Canadians.
It is not up to the parliamentary secretary to judge which information is more personal than any other. If he wants to rebut the experts' testimony, let him invite other experts to appear before the committee so that we can debate the matter.
Canadians are entitled to know that the government handles their personal information, whether shared or not, in a transparent and responsible manner. That is true for anything. That is what is done in the case of the budget and expenditures. We need to know what happens with the sharing of such data. It is not up to the parliamentary secretary to judge what data should or should not be made public.
Thank you very much.