Mike Harris, Ontario's premier, is a dork. This merely confirms it. If they
*really* want to tag everyone with a card, at least make it a smartcard, huh?
Harris' support for the idea of a single card came on the same day that the
province's privacy commissioner, Tom Wright, warned of governments
``mesmerized by technology.''
Mesmerized by what?? Oh, the 'T' word. Who me? mesmerized?! :-)
Ron.
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By Caroline Mallan Toronto Star Queen's Park Bureau
Premier Mike Harris thinks it
might be a good idea to electronically fingerprint Ontario's
11 million residents.
The fingerprinting would allow the government to produce an
identification card - bearing the user's thumb print - that would be used to
access all government services, particularly health care, the Premier said
yesterday.
The government will look at the idea as a weapon against fraud in
programs like welfare and medicare, he said.
He made the comments as Metro councillors consider a plan to force
welfare recipients to have thumb-print images taken and used on ID cards.
``If this is acceptable to the City of Toronto I think it would give us
a strong case that maybe this is the best, foolproof method to look at our
health cards and to look at how you access all government programs,'' Harris
told reporters.
``I think (Metro) has done a fair bit of research and consultation on
striking the balance between not being intrusive but ensuring safeguards
against fraud.''
He said if there is any stigma attached to computer fingerprinting of
welfare recipients, that would be eradicated if it was a province-wide standard.
Harris' support for the idea of a single card came on the same day that
the province's privacy commissioner, Tom Wright, warned of governments
``mesmerized by technology.''
In his annual report, Wright singled out protection of data as crucial
for government.
Wright later questioned the Premier's single-card proposal, telling
reporters it could pose a serious threat to confidentiality and might not
save much - if any - money.
Most welfare fraud is caused by people dishonestly claiming they're
eligible for benefits, something that wouldn't be stopped by thumb-print
identification, Wright said.
Health Minister Jim Wilson said that while the technology may be ready
to introduce a ``smart card,'' the people of Ontario are not.
With files from Canadian Press