Appearance before the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy on Bill C-69

May 23, 2024

Ottawa, Ontario

Opening statement by Philippe Dufresne
Privacy Commissioner of Canada

(Check against delivery)

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Thank you Chair and members of the Committee for the opportunity to appear as part of your pre-study of Bill C-69 which includes new information-sharing provisions for reporting entities under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, or the PCMLTFA, the inclusion of a safe-harbour protection, as well as consequential amendments to Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law.

As Privacy Commissioner, I oversee compliance with both the Privacy Act, which applies to federal institutions’ collection, use, disclosure, retention or disposal of personal information, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, or PIPEDA, which is Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law.

In the context of Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Terrorist Financing regime, pursuant to section 72(2) of the PCMLTFA my Office is also required to review the measures taken by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to protect information that it receives or collects under this Act every two years.

I support the measures that are proposed in Bill C-69 which would help to facilitate the effective exchange of information to address the crucial public interest of combatting money laundering and terrorist financing. 

As I have said on a number of occasions, privacy supports the public interest and Canadians should not have to choose between good public policy and good privacy; they can have both and they deserve to have both.

In doing so, it is important to ensure that when privacy impactful measures are put in place in the public interest, that there are accompanying measures to ensure that privacy is protected and that it is seen to be protected, as doing so will generate trust which will in turn support the public interest.

Bill C-69 would introduce amendments to the PCMLTFA that would allow reporting entities under the Act (such as financial organizations) to disclose personal information to another organization without an individual’s knowledge or consent if the disclosure is reasonable for the purpose of detecting or deterring money laundering, terrorist activity financing or sanctions evasion, if making the disclosure with knowledge or consent would compromise the ability to detect those crimes and if the disclosure is made in accordance with the regulations. The Bill would also allow the recipient organization to collect and use the information disclosed to them pursuant to this provision.

Bill C-69 would further provide that the Governor in Council may adopt regulations respecting those disclosures, collections and uses, including the establishment of codes of practice by organizations and respecting the role of my Office and FINTRAC in relation to those codes.

While the Bill explicitly contemplates that a role for my Office and for FINTRAC may be set out in regulation, the specific nature of this role is not defined in the Bill, and therefore will not be confirmed until the regulations are adopted.  

For instance, there is an important difference between an approval role and a merely consultative one, and in my view, there should be a requirement for prior approval of the codes by my Office as this would support Canadians’ trust that their privacy is being considered at the front end of this process.

For these reasons, it will be essential that my Office be consulted in the development of these regulations, and that the regulations include a strong and visible approval role for my Office with respect to the development of Codes of Practice.

I would be pleased to take the Committee’s questions.