Mr. Speaker, currently there is no card and we travel freely. I do not think that there is any problem at this time.
As for what the Americans want, I do not think that we should constantly do whatever the Americans want of us. We have to be able to stand up to them The current government has not set a good example when it comes to Iraq, but it should at least do so on issues like this, and stand up for its national sovereignty.
The member is heckling me, but I would like to give the position of the Privacy Commissioner, Mr. Radwanski, as set out in his annual report. Mr. Radwanski is not a member of the Bloc Quebecois, but someone who was appointed by the government. I will quote him briefly.
Given the Government's current behaviour on other privacy matters, it is difficult to avoid fearing that this means that it wishes to introduce such a card.
That would be another huge blow to privacy rights. In Canada, we are not required to carry any identification—let alone to identify ourselves on demand—unless we are carrying out a licensed activity such as driving. Introducing a national identity card, even if it were “voluntary” at first, would push us toward becoming the kind of society where the police can stop anyone on the street and demand, “Your papers, please”.
The notion of the Government of Canada fingerprinting or eyeball-scanning every citizen for such a card is, of course, all the more abhorrent.
I would like to finish with the last sentence:
I can find no justification for a national identity card—
This is not a member of the Bloc Quebecois who wrote this, nor a member of the New Democratic Party, nor a government member, this is the Privacy Commissioner. He was appointed by this government. I think that, in his capacity as watch dog, he deserves to be listened to.