Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition from the residents of my riding of Davenport in Toronto. The residents want to add their voices to the growing momentum in our country expressing concern around the government's plans to introduce what we call “lawful access legislation”.
The petitioners state that this legislation would require all telecommunications companies to collect and store personal information about their users and hand over the information at the request of law enforcement without a warrant. They state that Internet and phone providers would pass the cost of this spying program on to consumers. They state that Canadian authorities have not provided the public with evidence that they cannot perform their duties under current regulations. They also state that the Canadian Privacy Commissioner has stated that the legislation would substantially diminish the privacy rights of Canada.
The petitioners, therefore, call upon the Government of Canada to respect the privacy rights of Canadians by maintaining the need for law enforcement to secure judicial warrants before receiving personal information from telecommunications providers.