Thank you, Chair, and thank you, honourable members, for the good work you do on this committee.
I want to thank the members of the subcommittee for offering me this opportunity to appear today. I also want to congratulate them for all the good work that they will continue to do in reviewing the Anti-terrorism Act.
The review you're conducting is mandated by section 145 of the act, as you know.
The ATA constitutes an essential component of an effective security framework and it represents a crucial means to protect Canadians and their families.
The act provides us with tools to combat terrorism, and safeguards to ensure that these tools are used appropriately. The threat environment has not diminished, as you know. Twenty-four Canadians lost their lives on September 11; thousands of Americans and others also did. Since then, terrorist attacks have continued in more than 30 countries, including the nightclub bombing in Bali, where Canadians were killed, the trains that were bombed in Madrid, the school and the tragic incident in Beslan, the London Underground, a bus in London, and of course recent arrests here in Canada.
These tragic events remind us that terrorism is a constant international threat.
It's international in nature, and so it's going to require an international response. We need to collect and share information to respond to and to prevent attacks here on Canadian soil.
Intelligence-gathering is the lifeblood of our efforts to detect and disrupt this sophisticated and global threat. The UN recognized the value of intelligence and called upon all states to intensify and accelerate the exchange of information; they did that in Resolution 1373, in 2001.
This act has helped us to ratify and to implement other important international agreements, international recommendations on terrorist financing, and other UN Security Council resolutions against terrorism. The ATA has provided us with the means to stand with our allies around the world in fighting terrorism.
We recognize that intelligence alone will not forestall an attack. We need cooperation; we need support of all Canadians, from all backgrounds. Security and intelligence law enforcement agencies in Canada are reaching out to communities to more effectively communicate with Canadians. They're working within the framework of Canadian law and reflecting our democratic values. In some communities there can be misconceptions at times, but I and the agencies under my direction are doing all we can to address that.
We will continue to work together to establish a relationship with ethnic and cultural groups in our society who may feel isolated or ignored.
I meet with the cross-cultural round table on security. They engage in long-term dialogue on national security issues. I met with members of the round table as recently as Monday, and also in February. I'm encouraged by their ongoing support for open dialogue.
In Toronto, there were a series of arrests made. When I was at the G-8 meetings with other G-8 ministers responsible for security just last week, that was a major matter of interest to them in terms of what had been happening in Canada, because the G-8 countries, as with most countries around the world, are experiencing similar problems.
The RCMP and CSIS meet regularly with representatives of ethnocultural communities to address their concerns. The feedback I get from those meetings is very positive. People are very pleased that they can actually talk to, hear from, and give feedback to members of our policing and intelligence agencies in community settings and community meetings.
Prime Minister Howard of Australia reminded us in his speech to Parliament that “terrorism will not be defeated by rolling ourselves into a small ball and going into a corner and imagining that somehow or other we will escape notice”. Wishful thinking is not a policy, and failure to act is not an option. Combating terrorism requires that we have tools that are appropriate to defend ourselves.
The Anti-terrorism Act is precisely one of these tools. Thanks to this legislation, it is more difficult for terrorist organizations to operate both here in Canada and abroad.
The ATA contains important preventative measures to stop attacks before they start and to give us safeguards, and it's appropriate that we review those.
The ATA gives us the ability to lay charges and to prosecute terrorism offences. The charges against the 17 individuals arrested on June 2, as you know, fall under the ATA. And they're now before the courts.
Terrorism is fuelled by dollars, and in 2004-05 FINTRAC, which is Canada's financial intelligence agency, provided financial intelligence on 32 suspected cases of terrorist financing activity and other threats to the security of Canada. Providing these disclosures to law enforcement and intelligence agencies is vital and is a key element in efforts to cut off the supply of funding to terrorists. Through its listing provisions, the Criminal Code, as amended by the ATA, provides another ongoing means to curtail the ability of terrorist groups to raise funds, thus reducing their ability to operate in Canada. Listing provisions are just another part of an international effort, spearheaded by the United Nations.
We've recently listed the LTTE, Tamil Tigers. By denying this group the ability to operate in Canada, we're making our communities safer. The LTTE uses a variety of terror tactics to achieve its objectives, including attacking political, economic, religious, and cultural targets as well as targeting civilians. The government is determined to help ensure new Canadians who have come to this country that they can come here knowing they can live a life of freedom and won't be subject to campaigns of fear or intimidation.
Through the ATA we also protect the integrity of charities by preventing organizations that support terrorist activities from obtaining registered charitable status.
The ATA is working. It is making Canadians safer. It takes a measured approach that protects our safety and security, but it does not come at the expense of our liberties. Canadians understand that terrorism is a direct threat to their way of life, and public opinion polling shows that Canadians know that the values we cherish depend on the security we enjoy in our homes, in our communities, and at our borders. Canadians rightly expect that their government will do all it can to keep them safe from harm. It's vital to the social and economic well-being of Canadians to have the freedom to raise our children and see them pursue their dreams, and to live our lives without fear.
Some people have pointed to the fact that many measures contained in the act have not been used, or have been used very sparingly. That frequency of use is evidence that indeed we are being careful with these provisions. It does not speak to the necessity of their conclusion, but it speaks to the care and sensitivity with which they're used.
Civil liberties have not been sacrificed under the ATA. Many fears were expressed at the time the law was drafted that it could be used extensively. Those fears have been proven to be unfounded. Police and other agencies are using the powers provided by the ATA in a very careful, prudent, and responsible way, and checks and balances are integrated into the use of all the powers and provisions. The ATA is a necessary tool in fighting against terrorism.
There are other tools at our disposal, for example, security certificates. This process has been used carefully over the years, and it's a widely understood process. It's been in place since 1978. It's rarely used. It happens when somebody arrives at our borders and is deemed by security and intelligence to be an extreme danger and threat to Canadian society. At that point those individuals are offered the opportunity to return to their country of origin. Should they decide not to return, should they want to go through our very generous and extended appeal process, then they're allowed to do that. That's a process that takes a number of years. Since they've been deemed to be extremely dangerous, they're offered the choice of appealing that designation but remaining in detention while their appeal goes on, or again, returning at any time--they can leave the detention centre and return to their country of origin.
This particular process has been used only six times since 2001. It's been upheld by the federal courts as lately as September 2005, and now, as you know, it's going before the Supreme Court to have its constitutionality judged. Six people since 2001 is not a sign of something that's been overused, when you compare it to the fact that every year between 10,000 and 12,000 people are removed from Canada through a variety of immigration measures.
The government has taken decisive steps to protect Canadians and their families.
Our budget includes $4.1 billion over two years to protect Canadian families and communities, to ensure security at our borders and to improve our state of readiness in terms of public health threats.
I'll conclude by informing you that we will invest $303 million over the next two years to implement a border strategy to promote the movement of low-risk trade and travellers within North America, while protecting Canadians from security threats. We will be investing $95 million over two years to bolster security for rail and urban transit.
On June 23 our country will observe a national day to remember victims of terror. It marks the anniversary of the 1985 Air India bombing, the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history, when 329 innocent people lost their lives. It reminds us that the work is not done, the threat is ongoing, and vigilance is necessary.
You've heard expert witnesses describe the current threat environment, you know the nature of it and the challenge we face, and you bring invaluable expertise and perspective to this issue. The skill of our law enforcement and intelligence communities and the strength of our legislation will allow us to meet the threat of terrorism in Canada.
I thank you for your work, for your advice, and for your input.