Mr. Speaker, as I rise today I cannot help but think about the importance of this bill's title: An Act to support and promote electronic commerce by protecting personal information that is collected, etc.
What we have to remember is that this bill was introduced by the Minister of Industry, who is being asked to fulfill a twofold mandate, namely to protect the industry and consumers at the same time. We know that both the industry and consumers have powerful lobbies.
It should then come as no surprise that, in the dilemma that the minister is facing, having to choose between protecting the industry or protecting consumers, the Minister of Industry, who has been holding this position in the Liberal government since 1993, has so far always favoured the industry to the detriment of consumers.
There is a long list of projects he has pushed aside under pressure from lobby groups. I am thinking in particular of the Ginn Publishing case, in which consumers got the short end of the stick. I will give more examples later.
At the outset, when the Department of Industry was created, the Bloc Quebecois asked the government not to give the same minister two mandates that were so different from each other.
Section 4 of the Act to establish the Department of Industry and to amend and repeal certain other acts states:
4.(1) The powers, duties and functions of the minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction, not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, relating to:
(a) industry and technology in Canada;
(b) trade and commerce in Canada;
(c) science in Canada;
(d) consumer affairs;
(e) corporations and corporate securities;
(f) competition and restraint of trade, including mergers and monopolies;
The Bloc Quebecois was opposed to the same minister defending the interests of consumers and those of industry since it is clear, for those who have eyes to see, ears to hear and most of all a mind to think, that the interests of business, represented by lobbies and large cash contributions to the campaign coffers of federal political parties, would prevail over those of consumers.
The bill proposed by Industry Canada is tailor made for this. The Bloc Quebecois has already seen the opposition between the interests of consumers and those of the industry. It has also seen the Minister of Industry's clear preference for industry rather than consumers.
I would like to remind the House of an interesting case, direct broadcasting satellites, better known as DBS. The government did not take the necessary steps to inform consumers that technological changes were occurring and it allowed consumers to acquire analog parabolic antenna systems, while the industry was converting to digital transmission.
The Minister of Industry intervened on behalf of the Prime Minister's relatives to make sure that the Canadian policy on DBS would suit their interests. The Minister of Industry waited a long time before warning consumers against buying parabolic antennae connected to the American broadcasting system and he asked the industry to circulate the warning.
However, the Bloc Quebecois intervened and asked the minister to launch a broad information campaign on this issue. On December 19, we wrote the Minister of Industry a letter along these lines:
As you are aware, almost half a million Canadians and Quebeckers now own satellite dishes that will soon be obsolete, because digital mode will soon be the only method used for broadcasting radio signals.
What is more, the Department of Industry is also responsible for technological development in Canada. You therefore played a role in developing the unregulated grey market of satellite dishes. You were aware that there would soon be a major technological change in satellite signal transmission methods but you did not inform consumers of these changes on the horizon.
I feel you were remiss in your responsibilities towards consumers who bought satellite dishes during the past year. Had you truly been interested in protecting their interests, you would have launched a full-scale information campaign to inform them about the technological changes just around the corner.
I therefore call on you, Mr. Minister, to take the necessary action to have your department immediately inform consumers and retailers, among others, by placing announcements in newspapers pointing out that satellite dishes are becoming obsolete as a means of capturing analog signals, so that sales of this kind of equipment cease; to launch an information campaign regarding DTH broadcasting so that consumers, whose interests it is your responsibility to defend, know exactly where they stand: the incompatibility of technologies, subscription required for basic service, the risks of purchase, given that the CRTC does not use the viability of businesses as a criterion for issuing licences to businesses, DTH—
On February 22, Quebec's Minister of Culture and Communications wrote the federal Minister of Industry on the same subject. She said: “There are two ways around this problem: require applicants to offer consumers mutually compatible technologies, or have them rent the antenna, the decoder and the remote control from a DTH satellite service or from one of its accredited retailers until the technology is ready for market.”
On February 26, the minister answered my letter of December 19. He said that he understood my disappointment and the disappointment of the consumers.
I agree with you that it is unacceptable for some retailers to still be selling parabolic antennas to receive signals in analog mode without warning their clients that, soon, these signals will no longer be sent out.
In short, the minister sympathizes with the public, but he is doing nothing to protect them. The hon. member who spoke before me said that there was no risk for people in Quebec. I would like to quote here, in full, a comment on this bill made by the Commission québécoise de l'accès à l'information.
It is the commission's contention that, if implemented, this proposal would represent a setback on the privacy issue in Quebec.
This contention is based on a comprehensive review of the CSA code. There is good reason to be pleased with the Canadian industry adopting such a code. This is a sensible breakthrough which results from an interesting analysis of the OECD guidelines relating to personal information protection. However, the CSA code does not begin to respond to the objectives of personal information protection systems established by both Quebec laws, that is, ensuring citizens an objective and equitable settlement of problems and disputes that can arise in the growing area of the respect of this dimension of private life.
Thus, the Commission suggested to the minister of Culture and Communications that she remind her counterparts in other governments that a legal system had been put in place by Quebec. The Quebec system is, in the eyes of the Commission, the only answer that respects citizen's rights, considering the challenges of the information highway.
The draft bill the Minister of Industry and the federal government are proposing for personal information protection really is another reason for Quebeckers to achieve sovereignty.
Every day, we discover something about this government. When the session is over, the record will be full and Quebeckers will know what choice to make.