Madam Speaker, there was some excellent testimony at committee about this bill and I want to make sure the voices are heard in this debate.
Dr. Mark Salter, a professor at the University of Ottawa, stated:
Governments want this information so that they can build profiles of not just risky passengers but safe passengers as well. Research clearly demonstrates that in the United States and the U.K., government agencies are trying to collect as much data about travellers as possible.
He went on to say:
--I think it is dangerous to sacrifice our privacy and our freedoms for the dream of zero risk or perfect security. This particular measure—
Speaking about Bill C-42:
—does not provide additional security for the aviation sector, and it places an additional burden on Canadian citizens who are flying...
Canadians' data should not be hostage to the most paranoid regime that an air company chooses to fly over. The proposed change to these data protection regulations to include overflight states dramatically increases the vulnerability of Canadians' data while offering no means of redress or appeal.
I am wondering if my hon. colleague can comment on the situation where experts testify before the transport and public safety committees that roundly condemn this bill from stem to stern and yet the government does not pay any attention to that expert evidence and plows ahead.