Mr. Chair, treason is an offence under the Criminal Code, so Parliament has created a criminal offence of treason with defined essential elements of that offence. What this bill is talking about in a general context, or a legal context, where this issue will play out, is a state of armed conflict. I would strongly suggest that “act of war” is too imprecise to be used in this context. It would be preferable to use the term “armed conflict”. This term sets the context that all this is playing out in. With treason, there's no ambiguity. It's a defined offence under the Criminal Code, so it has rigour. It's the difference between an offence and a legal state of matters, a state of being, or a state of context.
On March 19th, 2013. See this statement in context.