IRCC already has the legal authority to disclose to CBSA and IRB the personal information that is necessary for these entities to undertake their responsibilities under IRPA. The proposed amendments are unnecessary and actually conflict with the bill's policy intent, which is to modernize IRCC's information-sharing authorities with domestic government partners, including closing gaps in IRCC's current information-sharing framework.
More specifically, IRCC currently, under a patchwork of laws, shares information with various domestic government partners, but the process is slow and burdensome, and the legal authority does not currently exist for some desired disclosures of personal information to these domestic partners, even when these disclosures would assist in the administration or enforcement of Canadian laws. This clause in Bill C-12 was designed to close such long-standing gaps and to modernize how we use and share the information we already collect, while adding greater transparency on how it's handled.
There are privacy safeguards in place to guide the disclosure of the information—such as the requirement to develop information-sharing agreements or arrangements, as well as a prohibition against onward sharing by provincial or territorial government partners to foreign entities, except with the written consent of IRCC. Where this would happen, it would happen in a way that complies with Canada's international obligations in respect to mistreatment, as defined in the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act. By limiting which entities can receive information from IRCC, the proposed amendment would fail to resolve long-standing challenges for federal, provincial and territorial partners that rely on IRCC to confirm identity, immigration status and document authenticity. This is key to timely access to services. It supports faster integration into Canadian society, and it maintains stronger program integrity.
In addition, the CBSA has noted that this would have an impact on the immigration national security screening program. This is a trilateral program delivered by IRCC, CBSA and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. This amendment could not be accepted as proposed, as the omission of CSIS would hamper the effectiveness of information sharing under the program and restrict national security information for admissibility determinations.
The bill's intent is to modernize IRCC's domestic information-sharing framework, not to re-legislate protections that already exist under the Avoiding Complicity and Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act. For instance, the CBSA is already explicitly subject to the avoiding complicity act. Further, the proposed changes in part (a) of the amendment are not supported, as they are unnecessary and in conflict with the bill's policy intent. As such, the proposed changes in part (b) of the amendment are not required, given that no changes to part (a) are being recommended.
The Chair Jean-Yves Duclos
Liberal
Thank you. I hope the interpretation was able to keep up with the rapid pace.
