July 5, 2000 Ms. Kim McLean mac@x5ca.net Dear Ms. McLean: Thank you for your e-mail of May 29th, expressing your views about Bill C-206. Bill C-206, introduced by John Bryden, M.P., was a private member's bill. It was voted on at the end of debate on second reading on June 6th. The motion that it be approved for second reading and referred to a committee for further study was defeated by a vote of 178 to 44. Here are some concerns about this bill: RELEASE OF INFORMATION AFTER 30 YEARS First, I am concerned that privacy or confidentiality of personal information, including personal income tax returns, would not be made certain by Mr. Bryden's proposed amendment to Section 4(2.1). Also, Mr. Bryden's amendment would not prevent the release of other sensitive information, such as trade secrets, Statistics Canada data, sensitive business data, location of historical/archival sites and solicitor-client protected information. PATENT APPLICATIONS AND THIRD PARTY COMMERCIAL INFORMATION I am also concerned about the impact of Mr. Bryden's proposed clause 20(1) on the exchange of information between government and business. Mr. Bryden's proposed clause 20(1) means that third party commercial information may be disclosed in the public interest at the discretion of the government institution. Our concern is that if disclosure is discretionary, businesses may be reluctant to provide sensitive commercial information to government institutions, and this would likely result in a chill effect in dealings between businesses and the government. ELIMINATE SCHEDULE II Mr. Bryden's proposal to eliminate Schedule II in its entirety is also of concern. A complete and wholesale revocation of the protection in this schedule might result in unintended and undesirable disclosures and harm. I believe it is much preferable to consider this issue in connection with a statute-by-statute review of those acts listed in Schedule II, so that the specific effect in each case can be assessed. It is not clear to us that an injury test should be applied to all the confidentiality clauses listed in Schedule II. Finally, the operational impact on government agencies of the injury test has not been assessed. I hope my comments are of interest to you. I remain, Yours sincerely, THE HON. HERB GRAY, M.P. /cr Windsor West =========================================== Many thanks for forwarding the letter, Kim! I wonder when this man will catch up with the times!!! And he is our Deputy Prime Minister. Anyone wishing to write: The Hon. Herb Gray <GrayHO@parl.gc.ca> Let me know of any up-to-date responses. Muriel M. Davidson <davidson3542@home.com> Canadian Census Committee