Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good morning.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association urges the committee to undertake a study of how Canada is addressing the issue of terrorist financing. In our submission, Canada's approach to this issue has long lacked critically needed oversight and review, and the urgent need for these will intensify with the passing of Bill C-51.
FINTRAC is of course a key component of Canada's strategy with respect to deterring and detecting terrorist financing. The Arar inquiry's policy phase is the most comprehensive analysis of national security accountability that Canada has ever undertaken. As I'm sure you know, the inquiry's recommendations included consolidated review processes for national security agencies, including FINTRAC. However, no review mechanism has been created. Meanwhile, audits of FINTRAC by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the OPC, have consistently demonstrated troubling over-collection and retention of personal information. While FINTRAC itself maintains that one of its primary safeguards for privacy is its independence from law enforcement, Bill C-51, if passed, would make such independence all but fictional.
As the Privacy Commissioner has just stated in his submission to the Senate committee on national security and defence, Bill C-51 would make available to 17 federal departments and agencies, including FINTRAC, the RCMP, CSIS, CSEC, and the CRA, potentially all personal information these departments hold on Canadians. All 17 of these departments would be in a position to receive information about any or all Canadians in interactions with government in an unprecedented blurring of the mandate of these 17 different institutions.
We anticipate a steady stream of legal challenges if these proposed powers are enacted, and these developments make very pressing indeed an assessment of FINTRAC's proper mandate and role in relation to other national security agencies. This of course necessitates a review of its efficacy.
The OPC audit reports echo the assessment on efficacy cited in the 2013 report of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce entitled “Follow the Money: Is Canada Making Progress in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing? Not Really”.
There would appear to be a dearth of information to accurately assess whether the Canadian regime is meeting its objectives. No empirical evidence is being generated to suggest that the regime is successfully accomplishing its goals. To the contrary, what little evidence is available can only suggest either that there is considerably less terrorist financing than feared or that the regime is not very effective at addressing it. However, much of the response to the situation of genuinely failing to understand the need and efficacy of the regime is simply repeated urges for more invasive powers; broader disclosures of sensitive, highly prejudicial personal information; a more onerous administrative burden on the private sector; and more resources for FINTRAC and its partners.
FINTRAC, as part of our national security apparatus, works with some degree of necessary secrecy. But currently, that secrecy is inadvertently allowing for a failure of accountability. There is no dedicated review body that can tell us whether FINTRAC is operating properly, successfully, and lawfully.
At the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, we say that this is a critical juncture for a long overdue study and sober assessment of the genuine need and the most efficacious, accountable, and rights-protective means of addressing that need.
Thank you very much.