Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of my constituents, I'd like to support the bill. I really don't have as much concern as some of the Members have regarding the cost. I think that the $1 million cost is a figure that was put forward, but I really don't know how much it might cost. We're not creating a whole new bureaucracy by implementing this new act.
One of the things I'd like to target is with regard to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and also with regard to the information that the individual can obtain about himself. One of the things that this does, at least in my opinion, is that if a person who is on social assistance is refused, I think he should have every right to know why he is being refused. He has the right then, also to look at his own files.
The other thing is with regard to job interviews. In a time of financial difficulties, if a person is refused, I think he should know why he is being refused. The same should be the case for educational levels. Perhaps some people might find that what they have as far as their level of education may hinder them from getting a job or having an opportunity to get a job.
And, of course, with regard to training. That's another area where recommendations that are done for the purposes of training could very well be determined by people other than the individuals themselves. They should know why they've been refused.
As much as I support the bill itself, I support more the section in which the Protection of Privacy Act was located. It is the individual who will know the information necessary about why he has not been given an opportunity for a job or a training position, or whatever the case may be.
I just wanted to bring that up, because maybe the act itself is kind of rich. A lot of people see it as a luxury thing. I think it's for the little guy out there for whom this bill is being designed. For the people who can afford it too, access to information provides information with a fee. But for anybody who cannot afford it, the act is also designed so they may obtain information without a fee.
At one time, we also had some concerns about not everybody having equal access. With the section regarding translation and so on, I think we have it now so that a recommendation is put forward for the government to provide the information where it is in the public interest.
I would say it's those people who cannot read or write who would be given the opportunity...I don't know how the government is going to design it and I don't know how much it's going to cost. But I would like to think that for those people, if in fact, they've been refused because of lack of education or because they don't speak the English language, this act would serve as another way of telling them what the reason was. What the individual does with that information is up to the individuals themselves. But at least, if my mother was to ask for a janitorial services job, I think she has just as much right to go to the school and ask why she never got the job and get someone to translate the information to her.
I think the bill helps the people who need this kind of information. For those who don't need it, it certainly is a luxury.