Information & Ethics committee  Currently, we get about 75 per month, and they are about evenly divided between the two acts. I would have to check with my colleagues to find out if that number has gone up.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, it was one of several initiatives we launched. It's part of a broad-based approach that we're taking to reach out to young Canadians, and part of a recognition that young Canadians' view of privacy is very different from that of older Canadians, which is not to say it is better or worse but simply that it is very important to understand what their approach is and what the impact on them is.

Information & Ethics committee  Our legislative responsibility is under PIPEDA. The private sector legislation requires us not only to ensure compliance with the law but also to raise awareness about privacy issues across the entire population. There's actually a legislative mandate to do that, so this is part of that outreach and public education, and quite frankly, it also fits well with the ombudsman role.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you. That is a very good question. I would say yes. We identified the backlog my colleague referred to, and we are doing three things. First, we are using the resources to handle the backlog. Second, we are using a brand-new complaints sorting process, meaning that we start by trying mediation, then take the matter to court only when the parties cannot achieve resolution.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, our target date is 2010. As my colleague said, we hope that we will have reduced the backlog considerably by the end of March. Then, with the new process in place, there will be a lot of mediation right from the start. The new investigators will perform triage, just like in health care, so that serious cases can be dealt with one way, and other cases can be dealt with another way.

Information & Ethics committee  The most significant consequences?

Information & Ethics committee  I will answer, but I also want to give my colleague a chance to speak to this. From my point of view, it would have an impact on everything we have identified as important to Canadians. That is clear from the surveys. We are not the only ones who think this. There would be nobody to deal with identity theft, the cross-border transfer of personal information, and other important issues like that.

Information & Ethics committee  We do report in that fashion. In fact, in our annual report to Parliament, tabled quite recently, we break down complaints by departments and agencies. So that information is available. I would be happy to provide it on our existing caseload, if you're interested.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you.

Information & Ethics committee  Good morning, everyone. I am Lisa Campbell, General Counsel at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. I can tell you that at the moment we have six active cases under PIPEDA. However, they are quite complex. They are spanning several jurisdictions in Canada, and we also have one issue in the United States.

Information & Ethics committee  That's a really good question. The power to go to court is much broader under PIPEDA or the private sector legislation. There is a more restricted capacity to go to court under the Privacy Act. Further down the road when we talk about Privacy Act reform, one of the things we've recommended is that the Privacy Act expand those powers to go to court.

Information & Ethics committee  I think Mr. Pulcine and I can both speak to this. It's fair to say that we do receive a number of complaints involving the RCMP and a number of complaints involving Correctional Service, for the reasons you might expect. They're often the same types of complaints. It's people who are in difficulty with the justice system who seek access to their personal files.

Information & Ethics committee  I couldn't give you an exact number, sir, but there are a number of cases where there are complaints of improper collection or disclosure of personal information by government departments or agencies.