Debates of Oct. 20th, 2014

Digital Privacy Act

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be on my feet, adding a few comments on my concerns with Bill S-4.

I have to begin by saying that I am disappointed that the bill had to come from the Senate, rather than being introduced in the House as part of the ongoing committee work that we would have been doing. The government chose to have it introduced in the Senate and brought in through the back way.

On this side of the House, we will support sending the bill to committee. We have some very serious concerns when we combine the impact of Bills C-13 and S-4, but in order to ensure that we are being open and fair on this issue, that we understand it thoroughly, and that it does keep Canadians' interests in mind, we will support it going to committee. Hopefully, at that point, we will have sufficient time to get answers to the various questions of concern.

We are back discussing the Conservatives' type of approach, which is that one is either with them or against them. If we vote against the bill, it means that we are not interested in privacy rights, and if we vote for the bill, there is another side.

It is another one of those bills that continue to be very divisive in the House at a time when these are the kinds of privacy issues that we should be trying to work out together. I do hope that when we get to the industry committee, we have a good group there so that we can do some serious work in a non-partisan way. Maybe we can strengthen the bill in the end, by listening to some of the experts who have sincere concerns about it.

I do not mean to start out on a negative, but the truth is simple. We all need to be part of the debate today.

The way that the government looks at personal information, protection and privacy has already been subject to a Supreme Court ruling, and we have to give consideration to that. It is one thing to play partisan politics in the House and think that we are playing to the political base, but it is important that we listen to the rulings of the Supreme Court on privacy issues.

There are clearly those who have tried to make it sound like anyone who does not support the government is supportive of criminals. We have heard that before. However, the discussion is not as simple as that. The government's record on information protection has been embarrassingly negligent, so forgive me if I am not convinced that the recent scheme is worth passing without intense scrutiny.

We should all remember the matter of that lost hard drive, which held the social insurance numbers, medical records, birthdates, education levels, occupations and disability payment information of about 5,000 Canadians. That was lost. Perhaps the government wishes to plead incompetence on that side, or maybe it was an accident. We always like to be fair, so maybe it was an accident. Either way, the way that the government manages information needs extra study, which is why I am speaking on this today.

We are now looking at Bill S-4, but one cannot look at Bill S-4 without considering the implications of its companion legislation. Bill C-13, which is also before the House this week, would make it a crime to transmit pictures without consent, and it would remove barriers to getting unwanted pictures removed from the Internet. The stated intent of the bill is positive, but I have serious concerns with the provisions that would grant immunity to telecom companies that provide subscriber information to the police without even so much as a warrant.

I raise the issue, given that last April, Canada's interim privacy commissioner revealed that nine telecommunications companies received an average of 1.2 million requests from federal enforcement bodies for private customer information every year. That amounts to nearly 3,300 requests each and every day.

Those are shocking numbers, and it could be argued that the bill has, in effect, already been rendered unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Last June, in an unrelated case, the court declared that law enforcement requires a warrant to get even basic subscriber data. Bill S-4 would allow private companies to share telecom subscriber data between themselves, something that would seem to contravene the Supreme Court's ruling.

How could that possibly be? Did the Senate miss this detail or did it fail to consider the implications of the Supreme Court's ruling? The truth is that the Senate passed Bill S-4 just days after the Supreme Court ruling, without even studying the implications. I guess the government is less concerned with that than pushing ahead with both Bill C-13 and Bill S-4. It is a lack of respect for the Supreme Court as well as Parliament.

Put simply, the legislation represents a paradigm shift in the way we deal with the release of private information. Traditionally, privacy laws outline the rules and procedures needed to protect information and personal data, but in this case, the legislation sets out circumstances under which that material can be released. Clearly, the implications of this change have not been fully considered and should be explored by the committee prior to passing final judgment on the pros and cons of the measures contained within Bill S-4.

My party and I will be voting to send it to committee for what we would hope is a thorough examination. Liberals want to ensure that law enforcement officials have access to the information they require to keep us safe, but a blank cheque approach is inappropriate. A blank cheque approach has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and promises limited success in advancing societal protections when considered holistically. Why not take the time to do this right?

In a world where crimes involving data theft, identity fraud and online stalking are on the rise, protecting data is crucial. Data is not simply information. It is a commodity, it is power, and it is the doorway into the private lives of so many people. Liberals are deeply concerned that the government's commitment to safeguarding the personal information and privacy of Canadians is less than absolute. I am not suggesting the government is malicious. I do not believe that, but I fear it just does not understand the implications of Bill S-4.

Notwithstanding certain faulty or short-sighted legislative measures introduced by the government in the past, Canada is facing a genuine paradigm shift with respect to privacy protection, but privacy protection cannot be taken lightly. Whether protecting personal information from unscrupulous business interests, Internet stalkers and identity thieves, or rogue states bent on economic espionage, information security is crucial.

With these concerns in mind and as a leap of faith and confidence that our committee will have a chance to thoroughly examine this, I will be voting in favour of sending the bill to committee for further study. However, in return, I am also asking the minister to allow the committee to do its work honestly and freely without the involvement of the leadership so that the committee is allowed to really examine it thoroughly to ensure that if this goes forward, it goes forward with what I would hope would be unanimous support in the House on something as important as Canada's privacy rights. I believe that is quite doable, because at the end of the day we have the same objectives, to ensure Canadian privacy laws are strong and that Canadians are protected.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my Liberal colleague for her speech.

I am pleased that she raised some of her concerns about Bill S-4, in particular the negative impact it may have on the privacy of Canadians. All of the concerns that she mentioned were also raised by the Liberals during the debate on Bill C-13. However, in the end, the Liberals supported the government bill designed to spy on Canadians.

I would like to know if we can expect the same thing from the Liberals this time as well?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, as is the case with much of the legislation that the government puts forward, it puts two or three good things in that we want to see happen, especially issues such as cyberbullying and so on, the issues that Canadians truly care a lot about, but it also throws in a bunch of other things that we equally have concerns about. It comes down to weighing the pros and cons of which parts are the better parts to deal with.

Cyberbullying is an important issue right now. It is in the headlines. It is important that we do everything we can to protect our young people from cyberbullying. Not passing Bill C-13 meant it would have taken another year or maybe two, by that time another election, and other young people would have continued to be exposed to some of those issues. We had to close our eyes, say a prayer, say half a loaf is better than none and that we would be able to protect some children from this. Taking one step forward is exactly what we had to do.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her response.

She said that the Liberals hope to make a real difference by examining the motion in committee. In her speech, she also mentioned that it is somewhat difficult to trust this government when it comes to information protection. We have seen how little regard the various departments have for the privacy of Canadians. They have no issue with picking up the telephone and asking Internet service providers for personal information about their clients.

Is my colleague worried that instead of moving ahead and fixing the problems and flaws in this bill, the government is going to take a step backwards? I would like to hear her comments on that.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are concerned, as we were with Bill C-13, but hopefully we will do a thorough examination of it at committee. We will not support the legislation if we do not see some changes and some clarifications when it comes out of committee. I am much more hopeful. We have been able to do some good non-partisan work at the industry committee and I look forward to continuing to have that opportunity.

We must keep in mind that this is about protecting Canadians' privacy rights, especially given the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling that the Senate chose to ignore. I suspect that will be front and centre and it will be our job as opposition to continue to remind the government at committee that there is a Supreme Court ruling on Canadians' privacy rights and it should be reflected in the final recommendations that come back to the House.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have one last question. We know that the Senate has already examined this bill. I do not like when bills come from the Senate, but that is how it is. The Liberal Party has Liberal senators or senators who are Liberals—who knows what to call them?

My question is this: did the Liberal Party senators try to improve this bill? They had the chance to do so. I am curious to know how hard the Liberal senators tried to improve this.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, some extensive work was done at committee but not enough.

I have a real problem with the Senate introducing bills that should have come through our committees, which would give our committees the time to discuss and work on these bills. I do not support bills coming through the Senate, or through what I call the back door. This is the first House that legislation should come to and it should be done at our committee level.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today to speak in support of Bill S-4, the digital privacy act. Bill S-4 is an essential part of Digital Canada 150, our Conservative government's plan to confirm our leadership in Canada in the digital age.

Bill S-4 proposes a number of important changes to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA, that will strengthen the protection of Canadians' privacy. The digital privacy act would also set new rules on how personal information is collected, used, and disclosed. Most importantly, this legislation requires organizations to tell Canadians if their personal information has been compromised. Companies who fail to inform Canadians about privacy breaches would be subject to severe fines for breaking the rules.

The digital privacy act is a balanced approach that protects Canadians' personal information. It allows for information sharing when the law has been broken. This balanced approach confirms our Conservative government's respect for personal privacy.

Let us now address any misunderstanding by individuals who have not read our legislation, particularly when things are read into this bill that clearly do not exist, such as claims that this bill expands warrantless disclosure

When all parties in this House agreed to enact PIPEDA over a decade ago, we recognized that there were certain limited circumstances where an individual's right to privacy should be balanced to assist the public interest. For example, PIPEDA ensures that the right to freedom of expression is respected by allowing for information to be collected and used for journalistic or artistic purposes. Another example is that PIPEDA allows people to freely share information with their lawyer, even if it includes the personal information of another individual, to ensure the proper administration of justice.

PIPEDA allows private sector organizations to disclose individuals' personal information in order to conduct investigations that help protect Canadians from wrongdoing. This provision has always existed within PIPEDA. Bill S-4 does not expand this practice. Rather, our legislation would place tight rules and strict limits on when and how private organizations could share Canadians' personal information.

I would like to emphasize to the House the role of private organizations and how they can play an important role in creating a safe and secure society for Canadians. Consider, for example, self-regulating professional associations, like the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Law Society of Alberta, or the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia. These bodies have the legal authority to investigate their members and take disciplinary action where required. This may be because a physician is performing procedures that he or she is not qualified to perform; it may be because a lawyer is charging inappropriate fees to clients; or, it may be because an engineer is approving the drawings for a new building without actually reviewing them.

It is not difficult to see there is a real public interest in making sure that these professional associations have the ability to investigate complaints against their members and to ensure they are meeting high professional standards that benefit Canadian society. In order to do so, investigators must be able to obtain personal information that is protected under PIPEDA. For example, when investigating a complaint against a lawyer, the law society may request that the lawyer's firm provides access to his or her client lists, financial records, or calendar. All of these records could include personal information which normally could not be disclosed to investigators without the individual's consent.

Under PIPEDA as it now stands, investigators who want to access personal information without consent must be listed as an investigative body by Industry Canada. This involves coming forward to the department and justifying the need to access the information. This is an onerous process for organizations and for the government. For example, a simple name change by an investigative organization may lead to a year-long regulatory process before the change is reflected in the law.

During the first statutory review of PIPEDA, the House of Commons committee recommended that PIPEDA be amended to change the rules for private investigations and adopt a system that is consistent with both Alberta and British Columbia. Under these regimes, there is a general exception to consent for information sharing purposes of private sector investigations.

In essence, these provincial laws regulate the activity of private investigations rather than the organizations who conduct them. Bill S-4 would introduce similar rules to those that already exist in Alberta and British Columbia. By placing tight rules and stricter limits on when and how private organizations can share a Canadian's personal information, our government is complying with the recommendations made by the all-party committee.

Upon Bill S-4 being enacted, private organizations would be required to abide by four strict rules when sharing a Canadian's private information for the purposes of an investigation. It is important for Canadians to appreciate that despite these rules, private organization information sharing is voluntary. These rules only apply in the event that an organization agrees to disclose information for the purposes of an investigation. These rules are as follows:

First, the information can only be provided to another private organization, not the government and not law enforcement. Second, the information that is requested must be relevant to the investigation. For example, there is little reason that a social insurance number would be released for the purposes of investigating professional misconduct. Third, the investigation must pertain to a contravention of the law or breach of a contract. Finally, it must be reasonable to believe that seeking the consent of the individual to disclose the information would compromise the investigation.

To be clear, organizations that share information would continue to be subject to all other requirements of PIPEDA. The Privacy Commissioner and the Federal Court will continue to have oversight on this matter, and if an organization is found to be using the exemption provisions where it is not necessary, action would be taken by the commissioner or by the court.

The Conservative government always takes the privacy of all Canadians very seriously. Our fundamental beliefs, such as democracy, the right to own private property, and the right of freedom of association, are complementary. They are why we introduced the digital privacy act, to protect Canadians' private information in the digital age.

I look forward to the remainder of the debate and working with the opposition for all Canadians on how we can best protect individuals in the digital world.

[Jonathan Tremblay, NDP, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have repeatedly shown how little respect they have for the Supreme Court of Canada. We have seen various examples of their contempt for our justice system.

Why do they not remove the parts of Bill S-4 that are likely to be considered unconstitutional in light of the Spencer decision?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the statements made were false and totally unrelated.

Today in Ottawa we are celebrating Cyber Security Day. We have a unique situation, which hopefully will be the model for the rest of Canada, where two private sector companies, Fortinet and Willis College, are going together, with funding from the Canada job grant, so they can have a special program called the advanced network security professional diploma program to help Canadians protect themselves.

There are two types of Internet users: those who have been hacked, and those who know they have been hacked. This is why we need legislation to ensure that individuals' privacy is protected in this digital world.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure we share equal concerns on some of these things.

Dr. Michael Geist, who is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law, certainly has flagged a few issues that we will have to deal with at committee, but the idea that many of these organizations can release Canadians' information if requested, without informing the individual that this information has been requested and is done in secret, cannot help but set off a few alarm bells. I wonder if my colleague is equally concerned that this is the case, as Dr. Geist has referred to, and will we have an opportunity at committee to look at how to tighten that up?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker indeed I enjoy working with my colleague across the way at the industry committee, probably one of the most interesting, non-partisan committees that the House of Commons enjoys.

I look forward to Dr. Michael Geist coming to committee, and it should be noted that overall he supports this act. I recognize the hon. member's concern, but I would like her to remember that it must be reasonable to believe that seeking the consent of the individual to disclose the information would compromise the investigation. That is the rationale for the gathering of information without a person's knowledge.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member thinks that this legislation is so important, and I know nobody likes to be hacked, why is the bill coming from the Senate and not the government? Why are Conservatives bringing this bill to the House of Commons through the back door?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the important thing is that the bill is being brought forward. I certainly understand why the member opposite is concerned about where it came from, in that his party does not have any members in the Senate, although secretly they each harbour the desire to become a senator.

In the past we have had bills from the Senate come through the House of Commons. This is simply a more efficient way to go. The members of the House of Commons will have an opportunity, both in this debate as well as at committee, to put forth their concerns and contribute to any amendments to ensure that we get the bill right.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will begin by refuting the claim by the member regarding New Democrats secretly harbouring these strange desires to become senators. For the entire 50-year history of the New Democratic Party, we have called for abolishment of the Senate.

We believe in Canadian society and we do not need to have a House for people who consider themselves above the rest of us, which is often what has happened. Certainly there are currently cases before the courts regarding Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau, and Mac Harb. This is certainly not a group that any New Democrat wants to become a part of. It flies in the face of democracy.

As my colleague for Nickel Belt pointed out, if the bill is so important, why is it coming from the Senate rather than the government?

The Conservatives have formed government for nearly eight years now, and they are finally getting to this matter. Hacking is not new. Invasion of privacy is not new. Why were these changes not brought before us years ago?

I would also like to address the fact that the bill is being referred to committee before second reading. I actually applaud the government for this move, but my next question is to ask why this did not happen before. Why was this approach not taken regarding electoral reform? Why was this approach not taken regarding some first nations' issues that have come before the House so that we would have a broader scope of study within committee and an attempt at working together?

When the parliamentary secretary first rose to speak on the bill, he said that bringing the bill to committee before second reading would help to ensure that the best bill would be brought forward. I think it demonstrates that perhaps the current government is not always interested in bringing the best bill forward, because we are three years in, and this is the first time that the Conservatives have chosen this approach.

We have had numerous instances of bills being brought forward by the government and then being overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada. We potentially could have prevented that from happening had we taken this approach with other bills or had the government listened to opposition amendments and suggestions to make sure that the bills conformed with the law.

Traditionally, of course, adoption at second reading amounts to approval of the principle of the bill by the House. This can often restrict the committee's ability to make changes and amendments, which is something we would avoid with this bill. I hope that the industry committee takes the proper amount of time to study this issue before referring it back to the House. I certainly think the capacity is within the industry committee to do so. We have an opportunity to fix the parts of the bill before us that are lacking.

With regard to the rationale given by the member across the way for some intrusions into privacy, it is not so cut and dried. It is not a black-and-white issue. These are issues that need to be explored further, and the committee setting is the appropriate place to do that. The question is, will that in fact happen?

Most of us are surprised and a little confused as to why the government is taking this approach. The Conservatives have had many opportunities to use this approach in the past, but have never chosen to. It will be very interesting to follow the proceedings in the industry committee to see where this goes. Is it because government members want to make substantive changes that their brethren in the Senate missed, avoided, or did not put in?

Perhaps that is why the Conservatives are bringing it forward, but only time will tell. One of the very important lessons I have learned here is not to believe it until it happens, which can be said of so many different things we do in the House. There are a lot of rumours out there, but it would be good to try to stick to fact as much as possible.

Since the committee will have the opportunity to properly consider and make necessary changes to the bill, we are supporting the motion to send the bill back to committee. I think it makes a lot of sense, and it is an approach that should be used more often.

That this was done without a warrant raises questions. I would hate for court cases to be moving forward in which evidence might be thrown out because warrants were not obtained. The result would be an increased cost for the judicial procedure, and there is the potential as well for letting some criminals off the hook when they should be facing prosecution. We definitely need to beef up those aspects.

There is a provision within the bill that would make it easier for companies to share personal information without warrant or consent from clients and with no proper oversight mechanisms in place. Following a recent decision from the Supreme Court of Canada, this provision will most likely be considered unconstitutional.

The government must respect the Supreme Court ruling by withdrawing all clauses relating to warrantless disclosure of personal information from the bill. That is a very reasonable position. Canadians would expect that if law enforcement agencies are seeking people's personal information, they would have to follow a process, and obtaining warrants is a very important part of our system. It has to be proven that the information is needed before a warrant is obtained. That is a minimum standard when seeking this information. Currently, with these warrantless provisions, requests can be made without any oversight. That is troubling to many Canadians who are concerned about their privacy.

We are also concerned about many of the negative consequences that certain provisions in this bill might provide.

It is also interesting to note that the bill was largely inspired by Bill C-475, which was tabled in 2012 by my colleague, the member for Terrebonne—Blainville. Rather than wasting time and avoiding creating better protections for Canadians, the Conservatives should have simply supported the NDP's bill, which would have done more to protect Canadians' privacy.

Privacy has been a thorny, low-priority issue for the Conservatives, who have been incapable of adequately protecting Canadians' privacy. Their own departments have been responsible for allowing thousands of breaches of personal information while citing privacy considerations and decrying heavy-handed government.

The Minister of Industry argued that the long form census was intrusive to Canadians' privacy, and it was eliminated. However, the government sees nothing wrong with invading Canadians' private information without a warrant and without telling them. It is bizarre that these things would be happening and that nobody knows about them until it is too late.

Now I look forward to questions from colleagues.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the comments of the previous speaker that New Democrats want to be senators, as I guess is what she said, and that we are envious of senators, could the member elaborate on how many New Democrats he knows who want to be senators?

I do not know any myself. I have been around for a lot longer than you have and I have never met any, so could you tell us if you know of any?

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

If the member is asking the Chair, the answer might be different from his colleague's answer. Could he direct his questions to the Chair rather than to his colleague?

The hon. member for Scarborough Southwest.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That intervention gave me a bit of time to think about it, and to my knowledge, I do not remember ever meeting a member of the New Democratic Party who wanted to become a senator or who had that as their ambition in life.

The member said he has been around a fair bit longer than I have, but in political terms, maybe not so much. I might only be 35, but I will be celebrating my 20th anniversary as a member of the New Democratic Party just next spring.

It is something that is completely counter to what New Democrats believe in. We have never believed in having our own version of the House of Lords. We have never believed that people of privilege should be given even more privilege, and then not even really be held to account. There are terrible transparency and accountability issues within the Senate.

I do not think it is a part of our democratic institutions that we want to keep. Therefore, the answer is no. I have never met a New Democrat who wants to be a senator.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this young gentleman is so far behind me that he will never catch up in seniority. However, I would like to ask him the same question I asked the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke: if this is such a good bill, why is it coming through the back door? Why was it not presented by the government?

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to know that my colleague is not interested in becoming a senator either.

It is perplexing that the bill is coming from the Senate. It is supposed to be such an important issue that the government should be dealing with it itself, yet it has let the Senate take the lead on it. Who knows why? Perhaps it is bringing it forward to committee before second reading because the Conservatives think the senators have done a really bad job with it and it needs a lot of work. We will certainly be asking this question repeatedly to members of the governing party over the course of the day to try to determine why they have let the Senate take the lead on this bill and why they have abdicated the responsibilities of government yet again.

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill S-4, the digital privacy act. I support the bill.

The purpose of the digital privacy act is to strengthen the rules for the safeguarding of Canadians' personal information when they shop online or surf the web. The digital privacy act would amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, more commonly known as PIPEDA, which provides a legal framework for how personal information must be handled in the context of commercial activities.

Last April, our Conservative government introduced the Digital Canada 150, an ambitious plan for Canada to take full advantage of the digital economy as we plan to celebrate our 150th anniversary in 2017. Digital Canada 150 has five pillars and 39 new initiatives that will allow Canada to be a leading nation in the digital domain. One of the most important pillars in Digital Canada 150 is the “protecting Canadians” pillar, which is what we are talking about today. The digital privacy act would introduce new amendments and stronger rules to help protect Canadians' personal information.

As we live in an increasingly digital age, the need to protect our personal information becomes stronger. We use credit cards to purchase items online. We use the Internet to browse websites that may ask us for our personal information, and so on. Just last month, Home Depot was the victim of a massive data breach. The information of 56 million debit and credit cardholders was stolen.

It is surprising that, under the current law, it is not mandatory for companies to disclose to their clients that they have been the victims of hackers or if they have lost personal information. That means that if someone's credit card information was stolen, under current laws, that person may never know his or her information was compromised. It may be surprising to some, but it is not currently mandatory that companies inform their clients if their personal information has been lost or stolen.

Under the digital privacy act, however, if a company fails to notify its clients of a data breach where their information has been compromised, it can face a fine of up to $100,000 for every client it fails to notify. In addition, companies are now required to keep a record of all data breaches, and all documents must be handed over to the Privacy Commissioner upon his or her request.

The digital privacy act would also put in place new provisions that would allow the limited disclosure of personal information when it is in the public interest. One such example is the unfortunate reality of financial abuse. As it stands now, banks and other financial institutions are prevented from reporting suspected financial abuse to the proper authorities. The digital privacy act would give the exception to allow banks to alert law enforcement when they suspect that a senior is being financially abused.

The Canadian Bankers Association has endorsed these amendments. It said:

We were pleased to see that Bill S-4 includes amendments that would give banks and other organizations greater ability to assist their clients to avoid financial abuse.

As our society spends increasingly more time online and on the Internet, it is important that we have the proper safeguards in place for our children. Educational websites and virtual playgrounds are becoming more and more popular with young children. Sometimes, for marketing purposes, these websites will ask for the users' personal information. Under the digital privacy act, there is a clearer set of rules for when companies ask to collect personal information from a child. The request for information now must be written in a way that a child can understand. If the wording is too complicated for a child to understand, the consent is not valid.

The digital privacy act would also ensure that online privacy laws reflect the realities of business, such as allowing businesses to share employees' contact information and information necessary to manage an employment relationship. Businesses also need to be able to use the information employees produce at work as well as the information necessary to conduct due diligence during a business transaction such as a merger.

The digital privacy act also puts forward rules that align with provincial privacy laws. For organizations, it is important that consistent rules for the protection of personal information apply and that wherever they operate their businesses, their obligations would be the same. Consistent rules also provide individuals with confidence that wherever they conduct their business in Canada their information will benefit from the same level of protection. The bill before us takes steps to align our privacy rules with provincial laws.

The bill before us is a much needed update to privacy laws in Canada. It is a balanced approach that includes stronger rules to ensure companies are held to account, exceptions to allow for seniors to be protected from financial abuse, and new rules to ensure our children are protected online.

Now is the time for these measures to be passed into law through the passage of the Bill S-4. I hope hon. members will join me in supporting the digital privacy act.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to ask the member the question that was asked of me with regard to why the bill came from the Senate rather than from the government itself. It is an important issue because we are talking about the privacy of Canadians. This would be an important update to the law and it is critical that we get it right.

Why did this legislation not come from the government rather than its brethren in the Senate? Perhaps as a member of the governing party my colleague might have some insight he could share.

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have had a lot of opportunity at committee to deal with issues such as this and to deal with them in a collegial way and in a way that ensures results and good legislation.

How the bill came to the House is fairly significant. There are several ways by which a bill can come to the House. It can come either through the Senate or directly through the House.

The important element today is that we are spending all of this day debating the elements of the bill. In my riding of Don Valley West, I have had the opportunity to hold many senior and elder abuse seminars where we focus on issues around digital fraud. I for one am very pleased to see the legislation coming to the House where we are going to debate it and send it to committee where the right solutions for future generations will come out.

[Jonathan Tremblay, NDP, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-13 and Bill S-4 give access to personal information without a warrant or any oversight mechanism.

Why does the government want to allow snooping without a warrant by creating these deficiencies with no oversight to prevent abuses in the system?

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the legislation would provide a tremendous amount of protection to consumers and to government to ensure that the right solutions and the right oversight are in place.

The digital privacy act would not force companies to hand over private information to the police, copyright trolls or anyone else. These new measures would place strict limits and tight restrictions on companies that lawfully share Canadians' private information for investigative purposes. Organization to organization information-sharing already exists in Alberta and British Columbia. These changes were recommended by the access to information and privacy committee in 2007 with the agreement of the Liberals and the NDP and these provisions are well entrenched in this new legislation.