Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for that very thoughtful question. I think it might make better sense to simply drop this bill and come up with a better bill along the lines of the one put forward by my colleague from Terrebonne—Blainville, but even that is getting out of date. This economy is moving very quickly, and given the kinds of protections that are needed, we obviously should be thinking five years down the road, not nine years behind us.
It is true that the bill does come from the Senate. Then it went to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in February of 2015. At that point the Minister of Industry said he was open to changes, but the government warned that any amendments would mean the bill would go back to the Senate for approval and likely die with the fall election. The minister emphasized that “there is some urgency” with this bill.
Why create law that we know to be bad? Why create law that is going to be found unconstitutional once again? Why do that when the industry wants more certainty, not less certainty? In my remarks, I gave an example of one clause that deals with the prescribed form and manner of notification, and in it there are three references to regulations that are not out there.
We have no idea what this is all going to mean. It is a complete joke.
Industry deserves better. Canadians protecting their privacy deserve better. Small business deserves better. We can do better.