Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I rise today to speak to Motion No. 80. The legislation is so important given the degree to which increasingly societies, not just within North America but globally, depend on the security of the Internet, not just from an e-commerce perspective but from a sharing of information and a general communication perspective.
I support the hon. member's assertion that we need to strengthen our laws in this regard. We will not have continued growth in e-commerce and in the use of the Internet if Canadians and indeed citizens everywhere in the world do not feel comfortable with the level of security that is currently provided on the Internet.
We have seen a range of Internet crimes: web defacements, fraud, theft, industrial espionage, data theft and data manipulation. Communicating with children and sexual exploitation has also occurred via the Internet. Some of the mischief cases mentioned earlier today involving hacking have cost millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars in disruptions. Some of the other nefarious activities have been far from simple mischief but have in fact disrupted the flow of goods and services and communication. These things need to be dealt with very seriously.
The challenge with regulating the Internet is the Internet is still in some ways an adolescent technology. It is developing so quickly that laws designed now may be out of date in a very short period of time. It is also by its nature a global vehicle and, as such, national laws, national courts and national judicial fora and processes are not really as effective as they might be in dealing with them. I would urge the government to not only be supportive of the motion in terms of doing what we can within our own country to strengthen the laws but to work with other countries and perhaps take a leadership role in developing a more co-operative and multilateral approach to the issue.
Canada's percentage of Internet commerce globally is not great enough to actually reduce through national laws and national enforcement all that is capable of grinding the Internet to a halt. If somebody in the U.K. chooses to use the Internet, either through hacking, fraud or some other illegal means, to create disruption or havoc, Canadian laws will not necessarily reduce or ultimately punish that individual. Given that the Internet is an international instrument we must work with other countries to develop an international approach.
I would not want the government to escape its responsibility within Canadian jurisdictions by pointing to the fact that the Internet is by its nature an international vehicle. Within our own lawmaking abilities here in parliament and within our own law enforcement we must move more aggressively to ensure that the Internet continues to be a secure vehicle within Canada.
In Canada we have, as a percentage of our population, a greater level of Internet participation than almost any country in the industrialized world, even greater than that of the U.S. As such, Canada and the government should be playing a leadership role in this regard, particularly now.
In some ways the motion should be considered in a post-September 11 context and from the perspective of anti-terrorism. The Internet, like any other telecommunication vehicle, can be used by terrorists for terrorism or for those types of things. It is not only important for us to consider strengthening our domestic legislation but we also need to play a leadership role in an international sense. We need to work with other countries to harmonize our approach to the Internet in the same way we have seen the harmonization of some of the anti-terrorist initiatives, particularly those that seek to reduce the incidents of money laundering, which is also an international problem.
E-commerce does not just deal with goods and services. It also deals with money and money trading. We need to take a far more serious look at not only what we do domestically to reduce Internet crime but we need to play a leadership role by working with other countries to ensure that we are vigilant in continuing to defend the sanctity of the Internet as a secure place to do business and a secure place for Canadians to become full participants in the global Internet community.