Mr. Speaker, as we consider Bill C-315 we should review what the government is doing in this area.
Industry Canada and the Department of Justice are working on a comprehensive approach to privacy protection to respond to the recommendations of the information highway advisory council. For this reason, I do not want to support Bill C-315. I would rather wait until the Minister of Industry tables his response to the information highway advisory council.
Both that council and the Canadian Direct Marketing Association have called for comprehensive legislation based on the Canadian Standards Association's model privacy code. It seems to be more advisable to start from this consensual base and start the work that needs to be done to get broad-based support in the full community for action in this area.
I understand that the ministries of industry and justice are examining the recommendations I just mentioned. They are trying to come up with a broad based approach to the issue that both consumers and business would prefer. Any such approach would encompass existing voluntary efforts and the many excellent codes business has already put in place in a voluntary fashion. We should
take the time to allow this process to unfold and not start working on quick fixes to one problem after another.
This is not to underestimate the work of my hon. colleague who brought forward the legislation, but rather to pull the threads together of work that is being done in many areas of government on this issue. For example, my colleague, the hon. member for Nickel Belt, has also called for a national privacy law, building on the work of the Canadian Standards Association. He has also called for a working group to be struck to work on the drafting of such legislation, ensuring that it is enforceable and that there is an independent body for oversight. I commend his interest in this issue and I would suggest that we build on the work that is already going on in government.
Bill C-315 would require that an organization notify each individual on a mailing list each time that list is sold to another organization and ensure that the individual's consent has been received. In addition, it requires that the organization selling the list also notify that same individual that his or her name has been obtained. The legislation deals only with the sale of mailing lists.
Organizations would have 10 days to comply with requests from individuals to have their names or certain elements of information removed from the list. Fines for repeated offences could reach $20,000.
This legislation would affect the marketplace narrowly, in that it focuses only on personal information linked to mailing lists. It does not provide protection for personal information involving the vast majority of marketplace transactions.
The role of the federal government could be open to constitutional challenge, in that the regulation of personal information provided as part of a contract could be interpreted as a provincial responsibility. Quebec has already made such a claim in establishing privacy legislation applicable to all personal information gathered as a result of marketplace transactions.
A government infrastructure would be required to enforce the legislation. The sheer number of names contained in mailing lists suggests that there would be numerous complaints to be handled by the federal government. The resulting bureaucracy could be very costly.
Some have said this legislation is too narrowly focused to provide adequate protection of personal information. Lists are more commonly rented than sold today, and the legislation fails to address rentals. The legislation would be costly to enforce and cannot deal with nominative lists originating with organizations based outside of Canada.
A recommendation from the information highway advisory council on establishing framework privacy legislation is currently under consideration.
I know the minister does not support the passage of the bill at this stage, as he is hoping for a broader response to this very current issue that affects consumers. As a result, I am not going to be supporting this bill, although I would like to thank the hon. member for bringing this important issue forward to the front burner of our national agenda. I believe we should ask the Minister of Industry to report back to the House on the work that is in progress rather than cut short his efforts and those of the justice minister by starting fresh work in a new and more limited direction.