To wrap up, I would like to thank you for speaking slowly, Mr. Wong. That way, the interpreter could keep up. You're a model witness. It's true. We're talking about highly technical matters, and often in English. I'm extremely grateful to you for speaking at a proper pace. I'm sure that we'll be hearing from you often. Perhaps your colleagues can learn from you. The pace was perfect. The interpreters could do their job and I could keep up with the discussion and, most importantly, understand you.
I'll tell you how I feel. Obviously, you didn't come here to tell us that our amendments that impose restrictions or that protect privacy are good. After all, you have the mandate to advocate for Bill C‑22. Of course, as we study the bill, I don't expect you to say that our amendments do indeed protect privacy and should be adopted. I think that your goal is instead to give law enforcement more access. That's more or less the order that the minister gave you.
However, our job is to strike a balance. It may be restrictive, but we must ask ourselves whether these restrictions would be that serious. When we risk a failure to protect privacy, that too comes at a cost. Your responses show that you're a strong advocate for the need to give police forces access, but perhaps less so for the need to protect privacy. Throughout our study of the bill, if we're told that the proposed amendments wouldn't be that bad, but that they would prevent the police from doing their job, then this will be a fairly common response.
That's how I feel. I don't want to put words in your mouth, Mr. Wong. I'm telling you how I feel.
I gather that the amendment was proposed by the commissioner. His job is to protect personal information and privacy, so he'll obviously want to restrict lawful access.
I'm not sure that my amendment would have a major impact on police forces. I understand your explanation. I would still like to say that I get the impression that you're biased in favour of law enforcement, not privacy. I wanted to tell you that.
Thank you.