Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
MP Ruff, thank you for being here. You know that I supported your bill at second reading to bring it to committee, and I think it's important that we have an adult conversation about how we classify information. I think we do have overclassification, but that is not the point of this bill.
You highlight very clearly in proposed subsection 13.1(1) that the bill is “for the purposes of the consideration of their application”. I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about how a security process rolls out.
I don't want to call it “need to know” because the need to know is referenced somewhere later on in the process, but this is more of a reason to apply. Why do you need to apply for one? In order to actually get your clearance, you need to have a reason to apply, so staffers who work in ministerial offices have to have someone who's authorized to put their name on the list to even apply. After the person applies, they have to go through the process and they have to pass the said process.
Once they get the process, and if they have secret clearance, that does not mean we can now read the JFK files and have access to everything under the moon. That is not what this is. That's where the “need to know” comes in to compartmentalize the information at your disposal.
Ministers who are Privy Council members do not have access to every classified ministerial document out there. There is another process for being able to access specific information, so this is not opening up a Pandora's box to any member of Parliament who wants to know where our intelligence assets are or anything like that. I think it's really important that members of Parliament understand that, because this is allowing you to apply for the clearance. Am I correct?