The federal department that mismanaged the $1.5 billion dollars worth of job creation grants (billion-dollar boondoggle) now assures us it will look after the personal information it is keeping about you.

Privacy Commissioner Bruce Phillips uncovered the "Longitudinal Labor Force File", a data bank with as many as 2000 pieces of information on each person in Canada. Phillips was quite concerned about the establishment of this file: "The data base is always open to misuse or abuse unless there are legislated, legal restraints on its use." Currently there is no legislation regulating the use of this information by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and this could be a real risk to your privacy.

The information in this data bank is comprised of a persons education, marital status, ethnic origin, mobility, disabilities, income tax, employment, social assistance history and much more. It was collected over some years from income tax returns, child tax benefits, immigration and welfare files, the National Training Program, Canadian Job Strategy, employment services, employment insurance, job records and the Social Insurance master file.

When this was made public, HRDC was swamped with requests from individuals wanting to see exactly what information the government has on their file. This deluge forced the Human Resources Minister, the Hon. Jane Stewart, to dismantle the file and return the information to its respective areas.

The fact the government was even amassing this information into one data bank should be a matter of great concern to Canadians. Further, the collected information is not protected and could potentially be distributed to private industries contracted by HRDC. There is no comfort that this information was being kept by a department that was unable to look after $1.5 billion in job creation grants. Are Canadians expected to trust HRDC to look after personal information when they have proven they can't track their handouts?

The exposure of the Billion-Dollar Boondoggle and the huge personal data file on us all has caused a stir in HRDC. The government is even looking at breaking the department down into smaller components, which gives the impression that the problems were merely administrational due to the size of the operation. That smokescreen is no doubt designed to divert our attention away from the government's intrusion into our privacy compounded by the inept handling of the job creation fiasco.

The only acceptable reason for breaking up HRDC would be if it means smaller, less intrusive government. Unfortunately, dismantling the department will require hiring more staff. Hard to believe that this government's only response to a big problem is to make even bigger government.

The Big Brother Data Bank is an example of the government's continually growing control over Canadians. My work on the AIDA foul-ups and gun registration issue has shown me that what the government says and what the government does are two different things. They may say they are dismantling the Longitudinal Labour Force File, but HRDC still has a great deal of information about you and me. I don't think I am the only one concerned about this.

The outrage expressed by thousands of Canadians is evidence that people still believe they should have some control over what information the government should have. We cannot take our privacy for granted. The government must be accountable for its actions.

If you would like to find out what information the government has about you, please contact my office at 1-800-667-6606. We will provide you with the information as to how to acquire your file from the government.

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