Mr. Speaker, I rise today to continue to try to shed some light on an issue that has impacted a great number of Canadians.
It has been six months since we saw one of the single largest data breaches in the history of this country. Approximately 600,000 Canadians had their private information exposed by the government's mishandling of their data. Certainly we have seen enough cases of people having their identities stolen. Their identities have gotten into the hands of people who are not good people at all. Lives have been ruined once this data has been in the wrong hands.
With that kind of information about 600,000 Canadians out there, mainly through the student loan program, there has been a great deal of concern. My office has handled many enquiries as to just where this issue stands. I stand today to try to get some kind of clarification.
It was two months before the minister came clean with Canadians and let them know that this data had been breached. She said at the time, and every time we asked her in the House, that she took the matter very seriously and that she was very concerned. I am sure it will be reiterated in the parliamentary secretary's comments today. However, the minister also said at that time that they were working with external partners to ensure that Canadians were made aware of the data loss.
I would ask the current parliamentary secretary if he could share with me who those external partners are and how many of the 600,000 have been notified. Those are two simple questions. The government should have those answers now. Does the parliamentary secretary believe that the government is being successful in contacting the people affected?
How many people have signed up for the security alerts through Equifax? I know that both TransUnion and Equifax provide security alert measures. The government only went with Equifax because there was no charge with the Equifax deal.
Could the member enlighten us on those particular issues?