Letter to my MP

[mbarrick]

To the Hon. Hedy Fry, MP:

A matter concerning Canadian sovereignty and the privacy rights of all Canadian citizens has recently come to my attention. I have been reading about the BCGEU's recent application for judicial review with the Supreme Court of British Columbia over concerns regarding with the privatization of the administration of the provincial Medical Services Plan. While this is not a federal issue the concerns raised by the BCGEU have federal implication impacting all Canadians. The following is an excerpt from a flyer distributed by the BCGEU (available at http://www.bcgeu.ca/bbpdf/msp-legalreview.pdf):

"An expert opinion to be submitted to the court says the USA Patriot Act allows the FBI to obtain entire databases of records. The expert opinion says Section 215 of the Patriot Act allow for the FBI to obtain medical records and other personal information of innocent people. U.S. legal precedents also suggest that even if the information is held by a Canadian subsidiary, the American parent company could be required to disclose it."

The federal government uses the services of Canadian Bonded Credit Ltd. (CBCL) for collection services on debts such as Canada Student Loans and other federal debts. For these debts CBCL collects on behalf of the Receiver General of Canada. CBCL is also widely used by financial institutions throughout Canada and is the defacto credit-reporting agency for Canada, maintaining records on the financial history of virtually every Canadian. CBCL is a subsidiary of IntelliRisk Management Corporation (http://www.irmc.com), based in Columbus, Ohio.

If the legal opinion obtained by the BCGEU is correct this effectively places the financial history of every Canadian in the hands of the United States government and explicitly binds IntelliRisk from reporting any request for this information to the Canadian citizens affected or to the Canadian government.

Sincerely,
Michael R. Barrick,
Vancouver, BC
mbarrick@mbarrick.com
ph. 604-684-8372

cc: Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Hon. Stan Keyes, Minister of National Revenue
Vancouver Sun newtips line
Michael Babad, Editor, ROB, Globe and Mail
John Greenwood, Reporter for Vancouver, Financial Post
Katherine MacKlem, Business Reporter, Macleans Magazine