Evidence of meeting #163 for Public Safety and National Security in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cybersecurity.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Jim Eglinski Conservative Yellowhead, AB
Thank you.
Mr. Jarry, in your professional experience, do you think we everyday users of the Internet services can protect ourselves adequately? Are there proper programs that we can buy to protect our home security, or is that just a fallacy of someone selling me a product that probably is not going to do the job?
Senior Advisor Cybersecurity, As an Individual
Security is about two things, mainly. It's about training and about awareness. I mentioned earlier that many people agree to some confidentiality and haven't read the agreement.
To answer your question, yes, you can definitely improve your security. Now, is it 100% foolproof? I can compare it to driving a car. Putting on your seatbelt and having your ABS brakes and all those security systems enabled will probably prevent your getting hurt, if you get into an accident. But do you still have a chance of having an accident? You still do, yes.
Conservative
Jim Eglinski Conservative Yellowhead, AB
Security is only as good as the service that is being provided to Canadians, and in parts of Canada we know that the service is terrible, or almost to the point of rotten, whereas in other areas you have a very good service.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Thank you, Mr. Eglinski.
Before I let you go, whose is the money behind Quintillion?
Advisor, Tawich Development Corporation
From what we know, because we don't know them, it's a U.S. company that is basically supporting this project.
Liberal
Advisor, Tawich Development Corporation
Yes, that's why we say we would like to have a Canadian team, but the Cree, we have some money, but we don't have enough to do it alone.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Would a Canadian entity, whether it's you, somebody else or some combination, own it up through James Bay and Hudson's Bay up to the connection point, or would you own it all the way over to Alaska?
Advisor, Tawich Development Corporation
We would like to own it up to Alaska and up to Europe. We would basically like to own phase three.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
What is the significance of being in international waters as opposed to domestic waters? You know there is a dispute over the Northwest Passage. Canada regards it as domestic. Mr. Pompeo regards it as international. What would be the significance of whether it's domestic or international to your project?
Advisor, Tawich Development Corporation
It's basically not to be submitted through the PATRIOT Act and all the laws that regulate it. You want to try to be out of the reach of the NSA system. That's a concern that I think Canadians should be aware of. If I talk to the question that was asked of Mr. Jarry about who is doing the spying, it's a very good question.
Liberal
Advisor, Tawich Development Corporation
No, we're still in the study phase. If you look on the Internet, you won't find too much information about what we're doing. Now is the first time we've publicized what we're doing. Yes, we have had some contacts, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Thank you for that.
I'm sorry to interrupt what is a really good and interesting conversation, but with that, we are going to adjourn, and I want to thank you again for your presentation to the committee.
We are suspending, not adjourning, and then we are going in camera. Thank you.
[Proceedings continue in camera]