James Moore

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), Corporations Canada is continuously looking to improve the availability of products and services and of its online offerings. While the online corporations database is still available for free, the corporate profile is a new product that was introduced on January 30, 2014. It provides online and 24/7 access to the director addresses. Fees for the corporate profile comply with regulations under the Corporate Acts that are administered by Corporations Canada.

With regard to (b), the Corporations Canada database is still available for free for those who sign up to become secure users. For those who are not secure users, Corporations Canada operates on a cost-recovery basis, meaning its activities are funded by those who use its services.

With regard to (c), the fees are set under the authority of the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, and the Canada Cooperatives Act. The fee was established in 1975 by schedule 5 of the Canada Business Corporations Regulations, in 2011 by the schedule of the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Regulations in 2011, and in 1999 by schedule 3 of the Canada Cooperative Regulations in 1999.

With regard to (d), for 2013-14, the revenue is approximately $24,000. For 2014-15, the anticipated revenue is $144,000, based on the 2013-14 figures.

With regard to (e), with regard to the Action Plan on Open Government, Corporations Canada recognized the interest of having its dataset of federal corporations on the open data portal. The secure log-in approach used by Corporations Canada leverages industry investment to provide a client-centric and secure online authentication in a manner that respects privacy.

With regard to (f), no analysis is necessary because the search and fee policy is a separate issue from Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government.

Part (g) is not applicable.

[Privacy, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP is coming very close to setting the indoor record for missing the point here.

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, section 7, spells out very clearly the parameters of this law. Beyond that, Bill S-4, our new legislation, the digital privacy act, further protects Canadians' privacy.

That is what the Privacy Commissioner said when she said that this bill contains “...some very positive developments for the privacy rights of Canadians”.

The NDP critic on this issue said, “We have been pushing for these measures and I'm happy to see them introduced”. That is the NDP position on our bill.

[Privacy, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case at all. We are talking about a piece of legislation from 2001. It was passed in the House of Commons in 1999 and implemented in 2001. There is nothing new about it.

With Bill S-4, we are implementing new measures to better protect the interests of individuals.

If this particular colleague of ours does not like this legislation, then I just have to wonder why she said, when we introduced the bill, “We have been pushing for these measures and I'm happy to see them introduced”.

That is what she herself said when we put the bill forward.

[Privacy, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is an interesting approach to a parliamentary debate tactic to say that Canadians cannot trust the legislation that he in fact proposed for Canadians and that Canadians should not trust him because his legislation was so flawed.

We, of course, protect the privacy of Canadians. We are empowering the Privacy Commissioner with new tools to further protect Canadians online. Bill S-4, the digital privacy act, goes further than the Liberal Party ever endeavoured to go and further than the NDP has ever proposed to go in further protecting the privacy of Canadians online.

When the parliamentary committee considers this legislation, of course it can compel witnesses, and we are happy to hear what—

[Privacy, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite does not believe in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, if he thinks it is inadequate, he was the solicitor general when the legislation was passed.

We have gone further forward to protect the privacy of Canadians. We are moving forward. Bill S-4 puts in place new protections for Canadians.

The Privacy Commissioner herself said about our legislation that she welcomes the proposals in this bill. She said this bill contains “very positive developments for the privacy rights of—”

[Privacy, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the committee can do what it wants and ask whomever it wants to appear as a witness before the committee.

However, our government introduced Bill S-4 to protect Canadians' private personal electronic information. That is why we introduced the bill, and here is what the Privacy Commissioner had to say about it:

I welcome [the] proposals [in this bill, which contains] some very positive developments for the privacy rights of Canadians....

That is what we are doing.

[Privacy, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is truly absurd, and of course the leader of the NDP has not paid attention at all to what the Privacy Commissioner has said. What has been reported, of course, is the amount of information that has been requested by different agencies of the government in order to protect Canada.

The member of the opposite side asks why. The PIPEDA legislation spells out very clearly why this kind of information would be sought by police agencies and border security across the country. It is spelled out very clearly in law, in section 7 of the PIPEDA legislation, about why this information is sought. It is about public safety.

[Privacy, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, section 7 of the Privacy Act spells out why this kind of information would be needed by government agencies, more specifically, our police and security agencies. It is about national security. It is very clear in the act. The opposition leader should read the act.

[Privacy, April 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, the telecommunication companies must absolutely act effectively and responsibly towards all those they provide services to. There is no doubt about that.

Equally, we have put legislation before Parliament that further protects the privacy of Canadians, Bill S-4.

The NDP had a private member's bill with regard to the same piece of legislation that did not address this issue, did not even raise the topic, did not offer any amendments, and did not offer any solutions.

Contrast that with what we have done. We have put forward the digital privacy act, consulted with the Privacy Commissioner beforehand, spoken with her all throughout the process, and put forward legislation, which she endorses, that says we will protect the privacy of Canadians.

[Privacy, April 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the companies must co-operate. I believe that Bell is appearing before a Senate committee today to answer such questions. If my colleague wants to ask those types of questions at one of the House of Commons committees, he can ask these companies to come testify.