Information & Ethics committee  You will have to ask her. We're not in a position to—

Information & Ethics committee  I would have to ask my minister about this.

Information & Ethics committee  Maybe I don't understand the terminology. I thought it was quasi-judicial now. They have some legal powers or authorities—maybe in certain minds not enough.

Information & Ethics committee  You're going to hear some people say yes and some people say no.

Information & Ethics committee  We are the policy people, if you like, in overseeing the order in council, the provisions, and the act's ability to create regulations—for example, to deem substantially similar pieces of legislation in the provinces, to deem investigative bodies. We deal with a lot of regulatory issues.

Information & Ethics committee  I hate to repeat myself, but you have to ask the minister to do this, because it's only the minister who can actually propose amendments and changes after the internal due process. I'm not authorized to give you what I personally think is the amendment here.

Information & Ethics committee  If I may, we've heard a lot about that particular topic. There are those who are absolutely recommending strongly—and you will hear them in front of you—that the Privacy Commissioner name names. They may also make the suggestion to amend this legislation to force the disclosure of breaches of privacy.

Information & Ethics committee  That's correct. That's the recommendation you'll hear a lot about. In fact, I think the Privacy Commissioner will be here, so you can ask her. She is deemed to have no power right now in the legislation to actually name names, so to speak, and to force the particular issue. This would probably require a legislative amendment.

Information & Ethics committee  Comparisons are always being drawn between ourselves, the Europeans and the Americans. The latter take a different approach to privacy protection. They have passed legislation for each sector, whether the financial sector or the health sector. Their approach is completely different.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. The time has come for the United States to adopt an approach similar to ours, that is to pass legislation that applies to all sectors of the economy.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm also told that the Privacy Commissioner deemed work product like this not to be personal. We also have a carve-out for purely research data; that is, for pure research that is not in the commercial domain. Again, the act doesn't apply to it.

Information & Ethics committee  We have no difficulty with that. It's the law.

Information & Ethics committee  Again, I'm going to sound like I'm trying to duck the question, but what I'm trying to say is that we are looking for advice on some of these issues. They are difficult issues. There is not necessarily a consensus on how they should be treated, and as you'll find out, there will be a difference of opinion about them.

Information & Ethics committee  When data is forwarded to another hospital, for example, a hospital in Ontario—

Information & Ethics committee  That's right.