Jane Stewart

[Human Resources Development, May 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, indeed the six point plan is addressing the administration of grants and contributions in my department. I think that was made clear this morning.

Separate from that, I have always said that if there is ever any information that comes to light either from within the department or from outside that suggests that moneys may be misused, we take swift action. We refer it to the appropriate authorities as necessary. Should they come back to us and suggest further action, we take it.

[Human Resources Development, May 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, protection of the privacy and the information of Canadians is fundamental and I will not tolerate any breach of that in my department.

Let us look at where we are at. I quote the privacy commissioner who wrote:

Certainly we are not aware, nor has it been brought to our attention, that the database has ever been compromised or access inappropriately obtained by virtue of deficiencies in security safeguards. For that your department should be commended.

[Human Resources Development, May 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, today in committee I addressed this very issue that the hon. member raises. She time and again talks about a billion dollars being missing out of my department for grants and contributions. That is absolutely false.

The audit that we were talking about today at committee on grants and contributions deals with the very important issue of paperwork and administration. I wish the hon. member would actually stand up and for once tell Canadians that she has been wrong all along.

[Human Resources Development, May 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear that the hon. member is mixing apples and oranges.

In the audit that she is making reference to it was actually identified that our security measures are satisfactory, in fact probably better than we would find in the private sector.

With regard to the issues that are the focus of the privacy commissioner's review, it is a completely separate system. It is stand alone. The access is very limited. All the information is encrypted. It is secure.

[Human Resources Development, May 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong again. In fact as one of the things that we did in response to the request of the privacy commissioner, we have curtailed the amount of time for which the data is managed.

[Human Resources Development, May 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, as she was doing yesterday, the hon. member is mixing apples and oranges. She speaks about an audit in my department and that had to do with general information technology systems in the Department of Human Resources Development.

In the context of what the privacy commissioner is looking at, it is a stand alone system that is highly controlled. There is limited access and the information is secure.

[Human Resources Development, May 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I have itemized already the undertakings that we have made to date, not the least of which includes recognizing that we should only keep information for a predictable period of time.

I also want to say, very specifically, that the deputy has written to the privacy commissioner and asked him to join us in a working group to continue to ensure that the safety the information now has can be confirmed into the future.

[Human Resources Development, May 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I would agree that the issue of privacy is important to all Canadians. We take it seriously.

I would note that we have taken action. I would also note the comments of my colleague, the Minister of Justice, to review the law. We take this issue seriously and we will continue to ensure that the privacy of Canadians is maintained.

[Human Resources Development, May 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong. Even the privacy commissioner says that the information is being secured.

[Human Resources Development, May 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I want to convey to the House that we do audits. We do take action as I have shown.

In the context of the files we are talking about here, the work of the privacy commissioner, I would point out that the hon. member used to be a Tory. I suspect he was part of the government that put this all together in the first place.