WINNIPEG — Members of the Canadian Bar Association want the federal government to strengthen privacy laws and ensure that any collection of personal information for security reasons is "subject to reasonable and attainable objectives."

Delegates attending this year's annual meeting, which begins Saturday in Winnipeg, will debate two resolutions prepared by the association's privacy law and criminal justice sections.

One calls on the association to urge all governments to do a better job of "preserving, promoting and respecting privacy," including the use of personal information for security or police investigations.

The second calls on Ottawa to toughen the Privacy Act, limit government intrusion into the lives of Canadians and balance privacy and personal freedoms with a need for someone's personal information.

Lawyer Greg DelBigio, vice-chairman of the criminal justice section, says all Canadians should be concerned about the debate, especially in the post-Sept. 11 climate of heightened security concerns.

"Each attempt to gain access to personal data is potentially a threat to privacy," said DelBigio.

"It's obviously the case that on a day-to-day basis within a Canadian democracy we tolerate a certain amount of data collection. But the fundamental question is . . . where is the balance struck between an individual's interests to privacy and retention of his or her personal data and government interests in collecting that personal data?"

DelBigio says there has been an increase in recent years of complaints and court cases related to privacy.

And whether it's an employer who sets up a video camera to monitor staff or government agencies that secretly collect private information, the time has come to publicly debate the issue.

The "healthy tension" that exists within the bar association between privacy rights and freedom of expression and civil liberties is nothing new, says outgoing president Bill Johnson.

But he agrees there is a renewed need to protect privacy.

Some recent hot-button issues include the use of biometrics to improve the security of driver's licences, national identity cards and anti-terrorism databases to screen travellers.

In May, Alberta's privacy commissioner approved the province's use of facial recognition technology in driver's licences to prevent identity theft. Civil liberties advocates have expressed concerns about what might follow.

At West Edmonton Mall, 200 surveillance cameras have been upgraded to match an image to computer-based facial recognition to pinpoint criminals, or anyone else.

Federal Justice Department officials responsible for privacy legislation were unavailable for comment.

Susan Dumont, incoming chairwoman of the bar association's privacy law section, said the two resolutions are intended to help the new group define its goals after getting started just 18 months ago.

"The message is that the CBA endorses the principals of information rights, which includes access and privacy, that they will be respected yet balanced by legitimate government and business purposes."

Other high-profile resolutions to be debated include revisions to the association's code of conduct dealing with the issue of sexual relationships between lawyers and clients.

There are also calls for the federal government to guarantee aboriginal people a permanent place on the Supreme Court of Canada and for federal, provincial and local governments to adopt laws "with concrete measures" to identify and stamp out racial profiling.

The meeting continues until Tuesday.