Information & Ethics committee  I'm happy to take questions.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the invitation to appear in connection with your important study. Early in the pandemic, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recognized that data can serve the public interest, such as protecting public health. To that end, we published a framework for how to achieve this while respecting privacy, a key point of which was to use de‑identified or aggregated data wherever possible.

Health committee  No concern—I had essentially finished. Our point is that even though a parliamentary committee can compel the production of personal information under its authority, and that there would be authority under the Privacy Act for the disclosure to a committee, in the circumstances we suggest that the committee take privacy protective measures to minimize privacy risks in that exercise.

Health committee  Thank you to the Chair and members of the committee for your invitation to share our views on your current study. As you said, I am accompanied by Gregory Smolynec, the Deputy Commissioner. Due to a prior engagement, I cannot be here for the entire meeting, but Mr. Smolynec will remain afterwards to address any questions that you may wish to ask.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. We think that for Canada to be competitive—and the government underlined this in Bill C-11, and I would completely agree.... We have a confidence problem, a trust problem. Consistently Canadians, at the level of 90% or so, have expressed their concerns that privacy is not currently respected.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you.

Information & Ethics committee  I'll be brief. It's about the concept of privacy as a human right. The issues we are talking about are extremely complex from a technical point of view, as everyone agrees. Despite the complexity of the technology and the privacy rules, it is clear to me that the goal should be for our Canadian values to be reflected in our laws.

Information & Ethics committee  For more details, let me refer you to my submission. Generally speaking, I would say that the principles can be clear and unambiguous, but not the rules. I agree with many of the speakers who speak favourably of the importance of having principle‑based privacy laws, such as the principle of corporate social responsibility.

Information & Ethics committee  The statement that we have issued with our provincial colleagues makes clear that it is desirable that the best solution would be for governments, federal and provincial, to set rules. The law is such that governments could decide to give a role for private companies, but my advice certainly is that governments, federal and provincial, should take this on and regulate for public health purposes.

Information & Ethics committee  How many hours do we have to answer that question?

Information & Ethics committee  At the beginning of my mandate, there was a lot of emphasis on public and national security issues, and on measures that followed the events of September 11. The Snowden phenomenon highlighted certain government practices. It's not all perfect, but we have made progress on those issues.

Information & Ethics committee  Absolutely.

Information & Ethics committee  On the use of the proof of vaccination at the border, I think we'll be able to come up with a solution that works and that is privacy sensitive and protected. You raise the issue of people who refuse to be vaccinated and the position that puts private companies or employers in.

Information & Ethics committee  As you say, my team is extremely talented and knowledgeable about privacy issues. I inherited a group that was already excellent when I took office. I hope to leave my successor with a group that is just as good. As for a transfer of knowledge to a successor, plenty of people in Canada already very knowledgeable about privacy issues.

Information & Ethics committee  It's a multi-faceted issue. It requires action by a number of actors. Not that long ago, there was an important impetus for advice to individual consumers: Be careful; do not put too much information on the Internet; use strong passwords. That's all very true. People should be prudent.