Senator MacDonald: Senator Gold, the Public Health Agency recently issued a new request for proposals to track cell tower base location data across Canada until May 31, 2023. Earlier this week, the House of Commons passed a motion calling on the government to suspend this new tender and not to go forward with it until the Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Committee of the other place reports that it is satisfied the privacy of Canadians will not be compromised. Senator Gold, will your government abide by this vote and not proceed with the tender at this time?

Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Senator Gold, earlier this week, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, Daniel Therrien, said his office was informed — not consulted, but informed — by the Public Health Agency about the collection and use of the mobility data of 33 million Canadians during this pandemic without their consent.

The commissioner also said that when his office proposed to examine the technical means used to depersonalize this data and to offer advice, the Trudeau government declined and said it would rely on other experts instead.

Senator Gold, why did the government turn down an offer from the Privacy Commissioner to provide expertise on this matter? Does your government regularly refuse advice from our Privacy Commissioner? As well, who were the experts your government did consult, and how much did it cost taxpayers?