Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois proposed this amendment asking the committee to rework the bill because the question of privacy and protection of personal information is too important to be botched. It is important also because the main objective of the minister, the protection of personal information to promote electronic commerce, is not adequately fulfilled by the bill.
I will try to explain. Four years ago, Quebec passed legislation to protect personal information and privacy in the private sector. This was a first among North American states. When the bill was being prepared, many people said: “It is going to be awful. Companies will not be able to meet the requirements”. Yet, the legislation is working. I would be surprised to hear even a member from the other side say it is creating huge problems. I even suspect that the other side was rather proud of that bill and wished to use it as a model.
Repeatedly, members opposite promised legislation to protect personal information and privacy in the private sector, but the bill tabled by the Minister of Industry is clearly, as the title says, to promote electronic commerce.
This has several consequences. First, the bill is too weak to actually protect consumers. It will not even fulfil its stated objective of promoting electronic commerce.
I heard repeatedly during the OECD ministers meeting called by the Minister of Industry and the Canadian government that to promote electronic commerce one had to reassure consumers. This bill is too weak to do that.
Moreover it has another consequence which is totally unacceptable in Quebec. My colleagues mentioned it, but it must be said again. In Quebec this bill would have the effect of creating two systems in the private sector: one more demanding, and another one less demanding. This is extremely annoying.
But what is even more annoying is that this bill would give the government full arbitrary power to decide what part of an act similar to its own would apply in a given province, in this particular case in Quebec.
It is totally unacceptable for an act that is working well and known to be good and effective to be open to being invalidated in part, by sectors or categories, or globally, and above all to be subjected to unhealthy competition, which will serve no one, by creating less demanding laws that would apply to other institutions.
We were told that the government had no intention of preventing the Quebec act from being enforced. In view of the wording of the bill, we have trouble believing this. We know that governments change, even if the current one truly intends to protect it; we know that ministers change. Therefore this is totally unacceptable.
I said earlier that one of the flaws of the bill was its weakness. It is weak because it does not adequately address the need to protect privacy. We know how often privacy is invaded in this world of ubiquitous electronics. We know that files are being kept on citizens everywhere, that often they themselves are unaware of their existence, but that when they do and want to have these files corrected they are unable to do so.
The government is willing to have a voluntary code enshrined in the act, a voluntary code which, when dealing with the rights of citizens uses the conditional, which is very worrisome. I recognize the effort made by businesses to find the means to protect personal information, but this cannot in any way replace the state's responsibility.
I would like to quote from the speech delivered at the OECD by the French Secretary of State for Industry, Christian Pierret. He said: “On the one hand, it is up to the private sector to develop practices, standards and tools to build confidence”. He also said: “On the other hand, if businesses and users are to be the major contributors, confidence builders—we are asking much of them—governments have a responsibility to ensure public interest.
This is what we are asking of the Minister of Industry. Not only should he support businesses in their efforts and commend them, but he should also very clearly recognize that the government has the responsibility of safeguarding public interest so that the public can feel confident.
Mr. Pierret said that “Confidence needs a stable and safe legal framework protecting the legitimate interests of all actors. We cannot risk covering some organisations and leaving others aside”. In France, this legal framework exists. I wish to make it very clear. He says: “It is not an unlegislated area”. This is not really the case in Canada and the minister himself tells us that as far as the right to privacy is concerned, the various situations are different and unacceptable.
That must change. The minister is in a position to stop the inequities and inefficiency. He has to act. We will be happy to applaud him. He cannot satisfy himself with a half-baked legislation that does not afford Canadians the protection they are entitled to.
It is hardly a comfort that the bill includes conditions regarding the collection, storage and processing of data and individuals' access to information about themselves. We also worry because, in cases of non-compliance, the Privacy Commissioner can only conduct investigations and report, he cannot make a final decision.
Yet, access to one's record raises questions, such as how to go about changing incorrect information. Must one go to court? Not everybody can afford that. We all know as well that individuals will have to wait for the Privacy Commissioner's report. The bill is not effective because, not only are the requirements inadequate, the remedy itself falls short. It is practically non-existent.
The French Secretary of State said that privacy is a right for which governments are ultimately responsible, just as they must ensure prevention and repression—