Among the list of people outraged by our good government’s plan to keep a database on the travel information of any citizen for 6 years, we can add retired Supreme Court Justice Laforest, who was on the Supreme Court bench when I was in law school, and Roger Tassé, attorney general of Canada from 1977 to 1985. They base their opinion largely on the Charter, which is indeed an instrument both are quite familiar with (note: understatement of the year).

A press release by the Privacy Commissioner introduces the letters to the Minister of National Revenue. Will this be a nonwhistanding solution? Can the federal even use that clause? Has it ever been used by the parliament or is it a provincial government only prerogative?

But remember, it could be worse.