Public Accounts committee  If the House supports the order of the committee, yes.

Public Accounts committee  I think on this we're going to disagree, Mr. Walsh.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Walsh alluded to the fact that this issue arises not infrequently, and it very often arises in the context of the Privacy Act, because personal information and the privacy of individuals is a very important value in Canadian society. Departments have come here before parliamentary committees in the past, and they have taken the position that they themselves are bound by the Privacy Act.

Public Accounts committee  My principle, Mr. Chair, is simply that as a department, Public Works is bound to comply with the Privacy Act. When on other occasions other departments have come before this committee—and this I have obtained from the annual reports of the Privacy Commissioner—what happens is they make a determination that it is in the public interest.

Public Accounts committee  On whether or not Public Works would be liable, based on what we have said in these proceedings, Mr. Walsh is right. The precedent on that, the case law on that, is perfectly clear. The Gagliano case is the most recent. However, as Ms. Meredith has said, Justice advises its client departments to comply with the law based not on whether we could be sued but on what we interpret the law to be.