Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to all of you for being here today.
One of the most encouraging things about our investigation to this point, for me at least, has been the incredible commitment to sharing. Mr. Gordon, you indicated that very clearly at a number of points throughout your opening statement—the fact that the different groups that are responsible for various aspects of security have a good network of communication.
In the RCMP statement, Mr. Malizia, you pointed out that you take all threats to ministers and members of Parliament very seriously, whether the threats are in the form of a threatening letter, in person, or through electronic or social media.
I wanted to read into the record some of the threats that were posted on YouTube by this group that identifies itself as Anonymous.
We demand that you scrap the bill in its entirety and step down as safety minister. We know all about you Mr. Toews, and during Operation White North we will release what we have unless you scrap this bill.
They go on to say, “Anonymous demands the immediate resignation of Vic Toews, the scrapping of Bills C-30 and C-11 in their entirety...”.
It's clear to me that there's no physical threat to Mr. Toews, at least not in this particular statement. But to me, there appears to be a definite threat to democracy, and I've mentioned this earlier, in the sense that legislators are sent here to craft legislation to improve the safety and security of our citizens. So it seems to me that this threat is a very real threat that all members of Parliament, and especially, members of the crown, the ministers, need to take seriously.
In your opening statement on page 5, Mr. Gordon, you indicated that CCIRC is not an investigative body and it does not have law enforcement or regulatory authorities. Prior to that you said:
Law enforcement agencies, whether the RCMP, provincial, or local forces, investigate cyber-incidents that are suspected of being criminal in nature, be their origins domestic or international. The RCMP also conducts national security criminal investigations, as CSIS does not have a law enforcement mandate. The purpose of law enforcement investigations is to prosecute criminals in court.
Going back to my line of thinking that this is a real threat to democracy, it's a threat in the sense that parliamentarians are intimidated from doing their work and then, perhaps, we could even argue that it may be a threatening factor in terms of those who are considering public service. So where in the continuum of criminality do you see this current posting of a video by the group that identifies itself as Anonymous? Is a criminal investigation necessary? What kind of investigation would be called for in terms of trying to identify who the people are who are responsible for posting a threat of this nature?
Whoever wants to may respond to that.