Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the first group of amendments to Bill C-6, formerly Bill C-54, an act to support electronic commerce and protect personal information.
I will start by saying that we have many problems with this bill for several reasons. This explains why we are proposing so many amendments asking for the withdrawal of the bill or, at the very least, the suspension of its implementation in Quebec.
When we deal with the second group of amendments, we will have an opportunity to discuss more specifically one particular amendment that would make this possible, should the government have the will to do so.
The purpose of the bill is, in a rapidly evolving technological context, to foster the development of electronic commerce while respecting the confidentiality of the information we supply or agree to supply, or the use that could be made of personal information provided without knowing how it is going to be used.
It should be noted that, for the past five years already, Quebec has had a law protecting personal information. The introduction or implementation of a federal act will create administrative chaos, making life very difficult for businesses. One can understand the will displayed by the federal government in this respect. In the other nine provinces, there is no law protecting personal information. Therefore the federal government has decided to go ahead and legislate. Too bad for the other provinces if they do not want their own law and are willing to withdraw from a field of jurisdiction that could be theirs. This is not the case in Quebec.
Quebec has already clearly stated, through a law, its intent to protect personal information. Moreover, the civil code contains provisions making specific reference to it. Quebec businesses have to abide by the civil code provisions as well as the law.
This is why many groups appeared before the Committee during the hearings and told the government “You are placing Quebec in a very bad position, when we already have a provincial act that protects both privacy and access to information. With this new act, businesses will not always know which act to enforce and which definition to use in specific cases. Some organizations will have to abide by the federal act, others by the provincial act and others yet by both or part of one and part of the other”.
Of course, the government will say “Listen, this will only take effect in three years because, in the first three years, the new act will not apply to all fields, data or businesses”. But, in three years, it will get much more extensive and will apply to everybody.
The Cabinet could make an order to withhold a particular field of activities or ensure that some sectors get under another act. But this will have to be decided by the federal government after careful consideration of its objectives and criteria. Since we all know that the Civil Code and the common law do not always have the same approach on certain issues, there will undoubtedly be differences of opinions and policies as well as differences between mechanisms adopted.
I can quote a number of people who addressed this issue at the committee's hearings. I will start with the Conseil du patronat du Québec, which came to say “Inasmuch as the constitutional jurisdiction over the protection of privacy and personal information given to the provinces by section 92.13 of the British North America Act, it is obvious that the legislator”