Debates of Nov. 24th, 2020

Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2020

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the phenomenal amount of work that the standing committee did in order to help facilitate the recommendations.

Could the member provide some of his thoughts in regard to the pre-presentation work involved in the legislation? Does he have any closing thoughts on that?

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would just say very quickly that this is one of the few examples I have seen in this Parliament, at this scale at least, where parliamentarians from all parties worked constructively and collegially. No one would have been able to tell which member of which party was asking questions of Facebook officials, Google officials and various representatives and other experts.

When we made those recommendations in February 2018, I do not think people were particularly seized with this issue. Then we went down the rabbit hole of Cambridge Analytica and really continued the examination of these issues and this work. Out of that work, I can see our committee work reflected in the legislation. I think members of all parties ought to be proud of that. We ought to now take that and work even more to improve the legislation going forward.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in speaking to the digital charter implementation act, 2020.

In today's ever-changing digital environment, Canadians have demanded better protection of their personal information. They have also demanded that organizations be held accountable for misusing their information. Stakeholders have told us that they want flexibility to innovate responsibly and want consistency with privacy rules everywhere else in other jurisdictions.

I am proud to say that the digital charter implementation act, which would enact the consumer privacy protection act, or CPPA, represents the most ambitious overhaul of Canada's private sector privacy regime since PIPEDA was first introduced, in 2000. CPPA would introduce significant changes to better protect the personal information of Canadians in the way they have been demanding, including, of course, with strong financial consequences for those who do not follow the law.

Prior to PIPEDA, in the 1990s, other countries around the globe introduced new laws to ensure that privacy was protected and that the opportunities afforded by e-commerce and the flow of information around the globe flourished. In particular, the EU introduced a privacy directive for its member countries to implement into their national laws.

Inspired by the EU law, Quebec introduced the first private sector privacy law in Canada in 1994. This was an important step forward, but it also raised the potential and, of course, the prospect for a patchwork of provincial privacy laws. With the prospect of multiple, possibly conflicting, rules and gaps in privacy protection that could harm Canadians, the federal government needed to act. Canada required a national privacy standard to ensure consumer confidence and regulatory certainty for businesses.

At the outset of the new millennium, PIPEDA was created to address the privacy concerns arising from a period of technological disruption fuelled by the rise of the Internet. It provided a framework with robust privacy protections and the flexibility to support the legitimate needs of businesses to use personal information. It also provided a mechanism by which the provincial private sector privacy laws could be considered substantially similar. This meant that where such a law is accorded that designation, PIPEDA does not apply to an organization's activities within a province.

In 2004, Alberta and British Columbia passed private sector privacy laws that are considered substantially similar, as is Quebec's law. A number of newer provincial health information laws have also passed, since 2005, that have been appropriately designated as substantially similar.

PIPEDA would continue, however, to apply to the federally regulated sector in a province and to any personal information collected, used or disclosed in the course of commercial activities across provincial borders. This provided a stable regulatory environment and flexibility for the provinces, and supported Canada's trade interests for many years.

However, today we are faced with a changed environment. Today, in many ways, history is repeating itself, but the risks have evolved. The role of digital technologies is considerably more central to our lives than it was 20 years ago. Just consider our experience in recent months with the pandemic. To harness all that the modern digital world has to offer, we clearly needed to modernize our federal private sector privacy law.

In a globally connected economy, our laws needed to be consistent with those of other jurisdictions. Internationally agreed privacy rules, such as the OECD privacy guidelines, first introduced in 1980, were updated in 2013. So too, I might add, more recently, was the APEC privacy framework. Indeed, privacy laws based on these international norms have been changing and advancing in Europe, Japan, South America and New Zealand.

What have these changes entailed? Core privacy principles have remained, though some have been expanded, such as accountability and breach reporting. New elements, such as enhancing rights of erasure and mobility rights, a greater emphasis on transparency, more certainty for businesses and consumers through codes certification and stronger consequences for non-compliance, have been the principal hallmarks of many of these evolving changes.

Closer to home, this summer, Quebec introduced amendments to its private sector privacy law, and B.C. recently conducted a study on its own laws. Ontario too is considering introducing a new private sector privacy law. Stakeholders have told us they are worried about the burden of multiple laws with different requirements. They demanded harmonization here at home.

There is a clear need for the progress and reforms included in the digital charter implementation act, 2020. If we do not act, there is a risk of further fragmentation of privacy rules across the country. We need to keep up with changing technology and business practices, and incorporate the best international practices, protocols and safeguards in our own domestic laws. We also need to set a common standard for privacy protection for the private sector across Canada.

Like the current PIPEDA, the new CPPA would be grounded in the federal trade and commerce powers. It recognizes the very importance of doing business on a national basis and in an economy that must work across provincial boundaries. Also, like PIPEDA, it would provide for a mechanism to recognize provincial laws that are substantially similar. These regulations would set out the criteria and process for such recognition or for reconsideration of it, and would continue to provide the provincial flexibility that has been important to PIPEDA's success. CPPA, like its predecessor, would maintain the Privacy Commissioner's ability to collaborate and co-operate with his or her provincial counterparts, an important tool to ensure consistency.

As the minister emphasized earlier today, the focus should always be on compliance. Some ask why we cannot have just one national law. The answer, of course, is that Canada is a federation; there is a division of powers. Indeed, the provinces provide important coverage that a national law cannot, under our Constitution.

I would be remiss if I did not also acknowledge the international context.

We live in an interconnected world. Data are constantly flowing across borders. In 2002, the European Commission recognized PIPEDA as providing adequate protection relative to EU law, allowing for the free flow of personal information between Canadian and European businesses. However, in 2018, a new EU regulation came into effect: the General Data Protection Regulation. It updated many of the existing requirements and added strong financial penalties for contraventions. The EU is currently reviewing its existing adequacy decisions, including the one applying to Canada.

That is why the government launched Canada's digital charter in 2019. Its 10 guiding principles offer a firm foundation on which to build an innovative and inclusive digital and data economy. The principles of ensuring interoperability, a level playing field, strong enforcement and real accountability are clearly reflected in the digital charter implementation act.

I want to thank members for their attention today, and I can assure them that our approach to privacy protection respects the privacy rights of Canadians. It is pragmatic, principled, meets our trading needs and provides a consistent, coherent framework that Canadians and stakeholders can rely on.

With Bill C-11, we will continue to encourage trade and investment and grow an economy that extends across provincial and international borders alike.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the bill seems to nibble around the edges of, but is never really clear on, the issue of classifying individual sites and social media networks by whether they are content curators or publishers. This is an important aspect. A regular newspaper is held to account by our libel laws, yet many of our online content curators are not.

I am wondering if the member feels this is an appropriate place to answer that question or if it should be decided somewhere else.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I tried to highlight in my remarks, we recognize that it is incredibly important to look at the practices of the provinces and look at the legal regimes and frameworks that have been adopted in other jurisdictions around the world. There are many scenarios in which we had to ensure the bill would provide a fair and stable legal framework for everyone operating within the ambit of the law. We went over many scenarios, and I can assure the member that the result, which is this legislation, has considered them. It has looked at practices in other jurisdictions, and I think we can all be incredibly proud that we will have a privacy law that is the gold standard for the world.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his comments. They were very interesting.

I know this has been brought up already today, but I want to hear from the member about it. We know that Bill C-11 does not explicitly deal with political parties, and we have heard members within the government and from the opposition parties ask that it be included.

If the member could comment on why this was not included in Bill C-11, that would be great.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that this question has arisen on quite a few occasions since this legislation was first tabled by the minister. What I can say is that the pith and substance of this legislation deals with commercial activities. That is the first thing we should all bear in mind.

However, the member raised an incredibly important issue. We should make sure our political parties are acting in a responsible fashion. That is precisely why, as the member is well aware, we recently updated the Elections Modernization Act to ensure that political parties are acting in a responsible fashion.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I read the legislation with interest. There is one aspect of things that happen online that concerns me, and I am wondering if it will or has come up in conversations. It is the sneaky little personality tests that we see that ask someone to answer questions or enter their birth date. We learned from the analysis of Cambridge Analytica that this is a way it gathered thousands of data points on a huge population. It is a form of privacy invasion, and it is very insidious. It looks like a fun little game, yet people are taking it, scraping it and using it for a commercial advantage.

I am wondering if this is an issue we will consider.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as we heard earlier, in the first part we had members of Parliament look into the various machinations that can be found online, and the ethics committee did an incredible job. It looked at Cambridge Analytica and other issues that were of concern to all of us and made some recommendations. In addition to that, as I noted, we looked at the best practices of other jurisdictions as well. We fully came to realize, as the member rightly pointed out, that if a company is to collect data, it is imperative that there be meaningful consent. This is really at the core of the legislation that was tabled by the minister last week.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise again today to address Bill C-11. This bill, when printed, is nearly an inch thick. It is a monster bill for around here. It is a timely bill, as well. I am looking forward to delving into it. I have not had the opportunity to read through it in great detail to this point, but I want to speak to it.

This is a top-of-mind issue for many Canadians. One of the things I want to point out right off the top is that when someone is online and a virtual persona, if they think they are getting a free product, they are actually the product. That is the thing to remember and many folks do not seem to realize that. That is something I have not seen in this bill, which is important. I think it is missing from this bill, although this bill may not been seeking to address that specifically.

There could be some sort of public awareness campaign, much the same as we have done with cigarettes. In the past, the public was trained that if someone smoked cigarettes, they would get cancer. We could do this for online profiles and show the dangers and what is going on out there.

As well, the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam mentioned what is actually happening with our data. We think we are filling out a fun game or personality test, but we are actually giving away data. It can be harvested commercially to send advertisements and promote certain products.

We continue to see more invasion of our privacy. I do not know about other members, but the thing that jumped out at me, during my first cursory read of this bill, was the term “algorithm transparency”. That is something I am really fascinated by.

On the weekend, my friend was telling me that he took his phone, laid it on the table and he and his friends talked about white rabbits for three to four minutes. They just said the words “white rabbits” often. Then they opened up his phone, went to Facebook and the advertisements he was getting were about white rabbits. Our phones are listening to us and there are algorithms that are promoting certain things.

We can probably turn that feature off and mute the microphones on our phones all the time if we know how to do that, if we care enough about it or are concerned about that kind of thing. There is a joke that the Chinese are listening to us. It is just an assumption that is being made. I do not think there is actually somebody listening on the other end, but there is an algorithm that is obviously listening to what we are saying and trying push products toward us that we are interested in.

The white rabbit story is interesting. It is not necessarily something that would come up in day-to-day discussions. However, I know that if we connect to someone else's WiFi then suddenly we start getting different advertisements. My cousin has a CNC plasma cutting table for cutting metal. It is really cool, but what is interesting is that when I go to his house and connect to his WiFi, which is also connected to that CNC plasma table, I start getting advertisements for CNC cutting tables. That is wild and fascinating. The algorithm transparency piece is one of the most fascinating pieces of this law.

Sometimes on Facebook, we get ads. We can click on the “X” to get rid of the ad. When an ad comes up, one wonders why they are seeing it. If I could get an answer for that, that would be amazing.

I am interested in that. What is being fed into the system that is promoting this particular ad to me? That is something I am really interested in knowing. At this point, there seems to be no recourse whatsoever to know why these ads show up. In my virtual personality that lives out on the Internet and in the data collected on me, what recent actions in particular have I undertaken that have driven this particular ad into my feed? I am fascinated to see if we are going to be able to bring that transparency with this bill. I am not necessarily convinced we will be able to do it, but I am fascinated by it.

The other piece I do not think this bill addresses at all is the question of social media platforms or Internet platforms being message boards or publishers. This continues to be a sticking point. There have been committee hearings with the major social media platforms, and we have seen countries around the world seek to grapple with this issue. This is precisely what governments ought to be doing.

What it means to govern and to legislate is to come up with a system that balances the interests of all people in a way of our choosing. That is what it means to be in a democracy. That is what it means to be governed by ourselves, so to speak. In many cases we see effective lobbying efforts by organized groups, and in particular commercial interests, that do not necessarily allow the government to get that balance right.

We see in the news how we grapple to enable this. Some large social media platforms have amassed a wealth that exceeds that of many nations. Some of the largest nations in the world are able to compete with this, but many smaller nations do not have the resource capacity many of these large media companies do, so there is tension there. I compliment this bill in that it is attempting to have that discussion.

Do I trust the Liberals to get it right? No, typically not, but I commend them for bringing this forward and beginning the conversation. This is going to be a long conversation. Like I said before, this bill is an inch thick.

The member for Scarborough—Rouge Park just made a comment. I do not quite know what he said, but I am sure he was complimenting me on my speech. I thank him and appreciate that.

Around algorithmic transparency, the piece that is really important, and that I do not think this bill quite grasps, is whether platforms are curating content, publishing it or choosing winners and losers. The algorithmic transparency of that is a big concern for me, and I know it is a big concern for many people across the country. It is interesting this is a concern for people both on the right and the left. It is a concern for all the political parties. It is a concern for ideological differences, and in general for what is curated and what is deemed to be on the platform.

This is also a concern for the platforms themselves, in that one particular message that comes from a platform can then become part of a mob mentality. People could then really go after it.

There is no protection, necessarily, for platforms because there is ambiguity about whether they are responsible for messages on the message board and, if they are, whether they are liable as a newspaper would be. That is the major challenge.

While I am not convinced, at this point, that we will get algorithmic transparency in that sense, it is important to be able to tell people, “This is our algorithm, this is how messages get on the board. We are not responsible for the messages and, therefore, this is how the system works.” There is no human input. It is just a sophisticated method of getting messages in front of people that they want to see, that they think are interesting and that they find helpful.

For the most part, I would say we are getting that right. Where there is some concern is about political messaging. We have already seen that Facebook has worked hard on that, but there is always a spectrum, I would say, of political messaging. There is explicit party messaging, which is relatively easy to monitor and manage, but then there is political messaging that goes farther afield. When it is a random, individual Canadian doing political messaging, how is that managed? That is when it will be really important for us to get the algorithmic transparency piece right.

There is another thing I am interested in seeing and have not seen. Part of the government's rollout on this bill has been pushing freedom from hate and from violent extremism. That is important to me. The managing of the Internet and platforms around violent and degrading sexually explicit material has been something I have worked on in this place. It was in 2017 that the House unanimously passed a motion for the government to study the impacts of violent and degrading sexually explicit material.

This was something that had not been studied since 1985. I was not even born in 1985, so that tells us it was a long time ago. The member for Fleetwood—Port Kells is shaking his head at me. I am not sure what that belies about me or him, but it was a while back, before I was born and before the Internet existed.

A study on the impacts of violent and degrading sexually explicit material was done in 1985. I remember distinctly, in 1991, going to my uncle's house. He had gotten the Internet. I had heard about it and said I wanted to see the Internet, so he showed me where the phone line plugged into the wall. I asked if that was it and he said we should look at it. He turned his computer on. It had a giant monitor and a big tower beside his desk that hummed. Members may remember the sound coming through the speaker of dial-up Internet. I remember, for the first time ever, seeing the Internet. We went to dogpile.com, which was an early search engine. That was the beginning of the Internet for me, in 1991.

Here we are nearly 30 years later, and we are still grappling with how to manage this. It is a public information highway. There are public highways all over the country, and the government manages a licensing system for folks who get to use the public highways and roads. There is no controversy around that. It seems like an effective way to manage it. Given that it is tangible and we can see it in front of us, that is a manageable thing. In reality, we are dealing with the information highway. Up to this point, there has been very little direction on the role of the government in managing the expectations of Canadians.

Many parents who I have talked to are looking for tools they can use to protect their children online, and they are not satisfied with being told they should just be better parents. They say they want help from the internet service providers. They want help from their government. They want the ability to have some recourse with these large platforms. I am interested to see that.

The government says the Internet should be free from hate and violent extremism. That is something that I support notionally. Video imaging is the area where I am most concerned. In the other direction, I am concerned about free speech, and particularly the use of words and typed messaging. That, I guess, is a little harder to manage. However, particularly with images and video content, I think there is a lot of room for the government to operate in, especially with the violent and extremely degrading sexually explicit material that we have seen since 2007.

Since then, we can chart the impacts of those on Canadian society on a number of different indicators, and they have gotten worse. We see this particularly with our children in terms of the loneliness index going up and the isolation index going up. All of these things are exacerbated by the COVID lockdowns.

These are all things that we need to ensure come into this. Freedom from hate and violent extremism is necessary, and we have to get that right. This is what governments are built for. This is what we need to do, and we have to get it right, so I am looking forward to continuing debate around that.

The last thing I want to point out, which I find to be a little interesting, and I am hoping for some answers on from the government side, is this bill, the procedure of the House and how this bill will roll out over time. I must say this bill was unceremoniously dumped on Parliament. I was not anticipating it. I have been working on these issues for a while, and it was not something that was clearly on my radar.

I had written to the Minister of Canadian Heritage around this issue, and I was wondering how he was going to manage it, because I do remember seeing in his mandate letter that he was to try to remove hate and violent extremism from Canada through the Internet. I had some ideas and concerns around that, so I had written to him about it. I did not receive any feedback back saying the bill is coming, so I was a little surprised that this bill came when it did.

The other thing that I am really looking for an answer on is why the rumour around here is that this bill will be going to the ethics committee. I am wondering why the bill is going to the ethics committee. This seems like a bill built for the industry committee. That is typically where this would be dealt with, so I am left wondering. The ethics committee is seized with a number of other issues, and I am wondering why this bill would be rumoured to be headed toward the ethics committee, when industry seems like the committee that would be more in tune with where we would like to go with this particular bill.

I am going to be continuing to monitor the debate around this bill. I am looking forward to having a robust debate. I know that, given the size of the bill, we will be discussing it for a while, whether in this place, in the other place or in the committee, as well as out there in the general public.

I know that this will be a hot topic of discussion. I look forward to continuing that debate, and I look forward to the questions.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Peace River—Westlock and I have worked together for a number of years. In fact, I was complimenting him when he was speaking, as he said some decent things about the government, which is quite unusual. In any event, I want to thank the member for his walking us through, essentially, the history of technology to where we are today.

In terms of the enforcement mechanisms built into this piece of legislation, could the member comment on its effects and what elements could strengthen that piece? I believe this is a very important tool. Any legislation without proper enforcement would be a failure, but in this case, we have a very robust system in place.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the jury is still out on the enforcement piece, given this is a brand new piece of legislation and the enforcement tools would be brand new.

I work a lot in the area of human trafficking and around multi-jurisdictional cases, where many of these players are headquartered in other countries. These multi-jurisdictional cases tend to get very slippery.

I have concerns, and I am sure the member shares those concerns. While this is a good first attempt, I think we will be constantly updating these particular privacy laws to continue to get the results we are looking for, in both directions, whether it is in overly aggressive fines, or where clear perpetrators are just getting away with it. I think we will be fine-tuning this over the long term.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask a question to the member who just spoke.

My colleague said that he has numerous concerns that are not being addressed by the bill in its essence. If we take the bill for what it is, and not what it is not, we can see that its provisions currently do not apply to the government. As we have seen, the government has not taken all the necessary steps to protect the identity of people making requests.

What does my colleague think of that?

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the question is in regard to folks who request their data to be turned over, to be able to see what data a particular company has on them. I think that is a good start.

In terms of the government, I do believe, if my memory serves me well, that that has been a long-standing process for quite a while already. People can request that information from the government and learn what data the government holds.

If the member is talking about political parties, that has not been the case. I do not think the bill is dealing with political parties at all. We deal with that in the Elections Act. I think there is an ongoing discussion with the Elections Act around data and data management there. In terms of the spam legislation that was brought in a number of years ago, there are special provisions for political parties there as well, most of which I agree with.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting to hear some of my colleague from Alberta's stories.

There has been some discussion today about new categories of data being exempt from privacy protections. I am wondering if the members feel that is a worrying step, considering that it gives the opportunity for a Liberal government to give away to big tech giants, which we have already seen it is potentially too close to.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member put her finger right on the issue, which is that the coziness between particular governments and particular media platforms is a concern. I talked about that in my speech as well, saying this is something that is not an ideology from the left or the right.

We see it happening with governments, in particular when they are in power, having a cozy relationship with a particular platform, and how that can sway public opinion on things. I share her concern on that. I think that if she continues to hold her finger on that particular issue, all the rest of the stuff might be spinning around, but that is the crux of the matter.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, just because Google and Facebook exist and are on the Internet, one should not make the assumption that there is this wonderful cozy relationship. Whether it is coming from the Conservatives, New Democrats or the Bloc, it is as if they are trying to say that the government of the day is in the pockets of these groups. I find this interesting, as nothing could be further from the truth. We all know that. That is a reality, and one of the reasons we have the legislation that we have before us. There was a great deal of effort to get here.

I wonder if my friend across the way would provide his thoughts in regard to some of the work that was done prior? It was done in an apolitical fashion at the standing committee, where there were members from all political parties actually contributing to what we have here today.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think the member listened to a word of my speech prior to his question, but I would like to point out that Facebook has met with the government over 140 times. This has been widely consulted, as he says, and widely lobbied on as well. He will have to forgive me for doubting his intervention there.

I know that in some cases a large media company's value can outstrips a nation's value. This is something that we need to manage. In my speech I pointed out that the exact thing the government is in charge of is managing the relationship of its citizens. Corporations are another citizen, and we need to manage the relationships between citizens. I think this is a noble attempt.

I know that this will be an ongoing conversation. I look forward to seeing where that takes us.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to ask my colleague a question regarding the interplay of public and private data in agricultural circumstances. One of the challenges that I see with this bill is the disparity that exists between urban and rural Canada.

I would be curious to know if my friend has considered aspects of the bill, specifically in regard to the private and public data that is used in modern agriculture for small and medium-sized enterprises associated with the developing industry of our egg producers.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, agriculture and data is a growing area of expertise. I would just point out that if someone goes to a John Deere dealership today, one of the things they will see there is a dirt probe. I used to think that John Deere just sold tractors, but today they sell a moisture probe with a weather station on top of it. They will set that up in the field so that a person, via satellite and cellphone, will get real-time information about the soil conditions, soil nutrients and weather conditions of the fields, which may be scattered around the country.

Martin Deerline, the John Deere dealer in my area, has a whole suite of those data collection agencies. People have to pay a particular monthly fee for that service. Where that data goes and how it is all managed, I am sure, is covered by this bill.

I look forward to hearing from them at committee.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by saying that I will be splitting my time with the member for Richmond Hill.

I am speaking here on the traditional unceded lands of the Algonquin people.

At the outset, I want to thank the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and his team for bringing forward Bill C-11, an act to enact the consumer privacy protection act, CPPA, and the personal information and data protection tribunal act. These are important aspects as we, as a country, address the issues of privacy in relation to the enormous amount of information that is constantly gathered, and exists about all of us.

We are in an age when with a cellphone we have more information at our disposal than several libraries put together. We are able to access personal information about virtually anyone who has a public profile, and certainly about anyone who has created a profile in one of the major platforms, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn, and the list goes on.

These have posed obvious questions for all of us as policy-makers or even as individual consumers in terms of how this information is used, how it is reproduced, copied and misused. We have seen the worst of it over the years in platforms like Facebook where information may have been reused over and over again.

At the centre of this legislation are three major aspects. First and foremost is consumer control over individuals' personal information that is out there.

Second, it is about innovation. I know the previous speaker spoke about the balancing act that we need in order to ensure free speech and privacy.

The third element is to make sure that innovation continues. Innovation is absolutely important for a country like Canada. I know many innovators in my community who have done exceptionally well. I have spoken about many of them here. The University of Toronto Scarborough campus has a hub in which many local innovators have come forward and have developed in my riding of Scarborough—Rouge Park.

Members may know of the company, Knowledgehook. It is a company founded by my good friend Travis Ratnam. The company was just given additional funding of $20 million to expand the program. It is a platform that allows students and teachers to work together to use AI, devise curriculum and make sure that the weaknesses of each student are highlighted to the teachers so that the teachers can respond.

In all of these new forms of technology, there are questions of privacy. We worry about the relationship between, for example, companies gathering data for the purpose of insurance, whether health, life, or auto insurance, and the data that sometimes is readily captured in our day-to-day use.

All of these issues have become pronounced during COVID. We see that education, for example, is now online for many students whose parents choose to have their kids study from home via the Internet; or for many post-secondary students who are studying virtually. I always go back to the University of Toronto Scarborough campus, which is located in my riding, but there is also Centennial College, where most of the students are learning virtually. These again have complicated the challenges for ensuring that privacy is maintained.

The digital charter that is before us does really allow for consumers to have control over their personal information, and it allows for innovation and a strong enforcement oversight. Sadly, the enforcement aspect has been quite weak in Canada over the years. We do not have adequate enforcement. In fact, technology itself is hard to enforce, whether in Canada or other parts of the world.

The enforcement mechanism that is built into this legislation is critically important for us to look at. It is what makes this legislation accessible to individuals who may have a complaint. The enforcement mechanism looks to have individuals appointed through the order in council process.

I want to speak about the way our government, since taking office in 2015, has managed to put together proper processes to appoint individuals to these important bodies, including judiciary and administrative tribunals, but also other bodies that make critical decisions.

We are focused on ensuring a merit-based system that ensures the individual is fully qualified to make decisions on a particular issue. For me, my work on the Standing Committee on Immigration and Refugees was a great learning experience. I saw first-hand how the IRB was transformed from a patronage-based appointment process to one that is merit-based. We see decisions coming out of the IRB that are fully reflective of the quality of candidates we put on those boards.

When we look at appointments, it is meritocracy, but also diversity. We note that in previous governments, judicial appointments have often been focused on men. In fact, in the last several years, we have now achieved gender parity. We are looking at enhancing that and we are working toward greater diversity among other groups in Canada, including people with disabilities. I believe the enforcement mechanism is critical and we have taken concrete steps in that regard.

To note, there are monetary penalties that this tribunal could issue. For example, there is a penalty of 3% of global revenue or $10 million for non-compliant organizations. For a company like Facebook, Google or one of the major outfits, 3% of their global revenues is significant. The maximum penalty is 5% of global revenue or $25 million for certain types of contraventions.

The government and the Minister of Innovation have brought forward a very important piece of legislation. It appears to have the support of all parties. I am particularly impressed with the data protection tribunal act that is built into this bill and the mechanisms that allow for individuals to access the type of redress that is required.

I look forward to questions from my friends opposite.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is an interesting piece of legislation. One of the questions that was posed earlier in the debate had to do with the fact that political parties are omitted from this legislation and that their use of personal information is not considered. The response provided by the Minister of Industry earlier was that the bill really deals with commercial uses of data, yet I read in the index of the legislation that it also deals with “statistical or scholarly study or research”, “Records of historic or archival importance”, and “artistic or literary purposes”. These are clearly not commercial uses.

Does the member agree that it is an omission that political parties are not dealt with by the bill?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think many of us have been watching elections overseas in the last several weeks, and I am quite impressed with our Chief Electoral Officer and Elections Canada, which is an independent body that regulates elections. I believe that Elections Canada is well suited to be the arbiter of these issues, particularly with respect to elections. It is definitely an area that our Elections Commissioner will take note of in the coming years.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, to pick up on that point, whether it is Elections Canada or the commissioner, there is opportunity to ensure that these lists are protected, and there are instructions given out to parties, candidates and people who are recipients of the data.

I do not know, but this may be a better question to ask to the members who put forward the question, whether or not Elections Canada has actually solicited this sort of a recommendation. I am not necessarily aware of it, but I would be very much interested if in fact members of the New Democrats or the Bloc, who have raised this issue, have been in talks with Elections Canada. This is more of a comment than anything else.

My question to my colleague is more in terms of getting this type of legislation forward and how it would help individual Canadians and businesses going forward, because through this legislation, we would see new regulations to protect our interests. Would he not see that as a very strong positive for all of us?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, every candidate who puts forward their name signs a declaration with Elections Canada about privacy and on the information that we receive from Elections Canada, and so I think that there are mechanisms in place with Elections Canada to address some of the privacy concerns.

Obviously, with respect to this particular piece of legislation, I do want to reiterate the enforcement mechanism, which is critical, but enforcement sometimes is inaccessible to the average Canadian. I believe that the tribunal process that is set up here would allow individual Canadians to access some closure and support for challenges that they may have with a breach of privacy.