Madam Speaker, Bill C-6 will provide exemptions for private sector activities governed by the provinces, if one of them has already passed legislation essentially similar to federal legislation to protect personal information.
The Province of Quebec has already passed legislation to protect personal information, legislation that is essentially the same as that proposed by the federal government. The organizations covered by the Quebec legislation will be exempted from the application of Bill C-6 in the case of transactions taking place entirely within Quebec.
The federal bill will add to the protection provided by the Quebec law for consumers in that province. These laws apply to different activities, and the federal law fills in the gaps in the coverage provided by the Quebec law.
Bill C-6 resolves problems and situations that can simply not be covered by provincial laws, however rigorously they are drafted.
One example might be a company with its head office in Alberta that gathers information on consumers in Quebec. Neither of the provinces is under the authority of the other and therefore a federal scheme is required.
Once Bill C-6 has been passed, the privacy of Quebecers will be the best protected in Canada, since they live in the only province that has enacted legislation to protect personal information in the private sector.
As far as national security is concerned, I would like to repeat what has already been said and that is that the police and government authorities will be able to do no more and no less than they do now.
I think Bill C-6 is good legislation for Quebec and good legislation for Canada.