Exactly. It is a very interesting process.
I developed an encryption algorithm which unfortunately got sidelined because I got into this wonderful world politics. I never got around to marketing it. But I really thought the method I developed was very good because of the encryption method which I used being very unique, and no two successive encryptions of the same document ever came out the same. One of the inputs I used was the computer's clock in changing the way it encrypted. Besides that there is an upfront ID number which a person can use. But it is very important in this case that the person receiving the message at the other end knows what that encryption password is. The way I did it, it was nowhere included in the document but in fact formed part of the formula for the decryption of the message. Without even transmitting it, it was an integral part of actually encrypting the message
This is one of the things that has to be dealt with very severely, identification. I am thinking of someone making a bid on a government contract by electronic means. It would be real dastardly but it could happen that an impostor could submit a bid, pretending their so and so company was applying for this bid with the government when in fact it is one of the competitors which is simply throwing in a phony bid to try to throw people off track. We need to be very careful that identification of individuals is securely handled and this is one of the things I would really urge the committee to look at when examining this bill.
There are other considerations which I think are also very important. Not the least of these is we need to gear up to having a very good climate for this type of commerce to occur in Canada. We hear over and over again that in this country we are taxed to death. We hear it from businesses. We hear it from individuals. We have a brain drain problem where people can move to among other places the United States.
They earn more money. They pay less tax. Their take home pay is much superior to what it is in Canada. That includes all the necessities of life, including health care. When we factor it all together it is still a disadvantage to stay in Canada. That has to change.
I am distressed with this government. It talks about reducing unemployment, improving the economy and changing spending and borrowing patterns. It has had some success. It has resisted the temptation to spend what nominal surpluses there are. But it will not move off its position of keeping the money that has been taken from only one sector of our economy, employers and employees. If we took that away we would not have a balanced budget. The government has done that on the backs of those people.
With respect to electronic commerce, the government needs to make sure that the taxation will not drive Canadians out of the country. Otherwise we will have them out of the economic loop. With computers and virtual store fronts now, a person can live in this country but virtually move out of the country without physically moving out. There is no way of identifying the source of files once they are on the Internet. They can be sent anywhere around the world.
We need to make sure the tax system is such that people in this country can engage in electronic commerce without a tax penalty.