What do they say in introductory law? They say that the best legislative texts are the shortest ones.
If the law maker is unable, in one sentence—subject, verb, object—to express an idea, the public is in trouble.
I want to point out, and we can never do so often enough, that what we are seeing today is not a desire to protect personal information originating with private organizations, but a basely mercenary attempt to make it easier for business to access private information.
We will not let that happen. Clearly, it is not too late. If the government, which as members know belatedly included the new elements, wants to co-operate with the opposition, we can have the bill withdrawn. We could ask pages immediately to go from desk to desk to collect the copies of the bill.
No, that will not happen, because the government is stubborn. As my grandmother used to say it is “hardheaded”. Fortunately, the Bloc Quebecois is here and we will not allow the government to move unchallenged toward dictatorial powers. That should be made clear.
I hasten to say, to the hon. member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine in particular, that there is a Quebec model in the area of co-operation and respect for human rights, a model enacted by the Parti Quebecois which, as we all know, will be re-elected.
That model has been endorsed by the people of Quebec. A few years ago, Quebec passed a bill that protects privacy in the public sector, which goes without saying, and another bill passed in 1994 by the National Assembly, the only assembly in North America controlled by francophones and other Quebec residents. In 1994, the National Assembly extended the protection of the act to personal information in the private sector.
I challenge the government members to name one organisation in Quebec that did not applaud this excellent measure, that not only did not applaud it, but that also did not wish it applied throughout North America?
Would it not have been wiser for the government to learn from this and to propose a bill including principles similar to those found in the Quebec legislation.
I see that my time is almost up. However, in the spirit of true co-operation that exists on both sides, I wonder, Mr. Speaker, if you would be so kind as to seek the unanimous consent of the House to extend my allotted time by 10 minutes or so, to share with the information I have with the House.
I would appreciate this extension and I would ask the hon. members to be co-operative in this regard, because I worked really hard to prepare this speech, and I have things I wish to share with the House. The responsibility of the opposition is to ensure that the government always improves itself. As everyone knows, it is a full time job. It is also an exhausting job.