Canadian federal agencies have spent roughly $6.4 million since 2019 on research and development of a national digital ID program. The government says there is currently no plan to roll out a digital ID system.
The funds have been spent on research and development of digital identification technology, according to records tabled on Dec. 16 in Parliament, as first reported by Blacklock’s reporter. The figures were submitted by all government departments in response to Conservative MP Ben Lobb’s Oct. 30 inquiry about federal spending on such technologies in the past five years and Ottawa’s plans for their use.
Liberal MP Stéphane Lauzon, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Citizens’ Services Terry Beech, wrote in the response the government has no plans to launch a digital ID system or to make such a system mandatory….