Citizenship and Immigration committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Thank you for inviting me. This is a technically complex area, and that is why I've asked two experienced officials from my office to accompany me today. Dr. Andrew Patrick has studied and written extensively on the issue of identity management, verification, and the use of biometrics.

Public Safety committee  No, I investigate complaints that come to my office.

Public Safety committee  I think it would have, as I remember it—

Public Safety committee  It would have shared more than that.

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  That is a hypothetical question, Honourable Member. Were that legislation to come before the House and were I to be called, I would look at that legislation at that time.

Public Safety committee  I can't comment on that, Honourable Member. Over the roughly 12 to 15 years of the Canadian firearms program, we have received about 70 complaints, all of which have eventually been resolved.

Public Safety committee  No, I haven't heard of those incidents, but when I was privacy and access to information commissioner in Quebec, it is on record that there was a serious attempt by criminal elements to gain access to the drivers' licence database. I'm not surprised that someone might refer to some phenomenon, because as privacy commissioner in Quebec I had to deal with that issue.

Public Safety committee  No, the Privacy Act provides that the signing of agreements or arrangements with provinces for the control and management of personal information is at the discretion of the government.

Public Safety committee  I have no idea.

Public Safety committee  Ms. Boivin, technically, we don't talk about ownership. I imagine that the terms pertaining to the control and possibility of disposing of personal information are stipulated in the agreements the federal government must have concluded with each of the provinces. However, I can't tell you anything more, because I've never seen these agreements.

Public Safety committee  Ms. Boivin, I don't have any information enabling me to have an opinion on the accuracy of the information found in the registry.

Public Safety committee  That's right.

Public Safety committee  Honourable Member, I can't answer you on the philosophy. I'm only really mandated to answer you concerning the application of the Privacy Act. The Privacy Act allows the government to collect personal information if it is in relation to a law or a program that is extant. To the extent that the government of the day has a law or a program, it can then collect personal information in support of this.

Public Safety committee  I do.