Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate your presentation. However, every time a witness makes a presentation, he or she speaks about processes and systems. Several persons and departments intervene in these processes and systems, and all seem to have in mind removal at all costs.
On the one hand, lawyers invoke procedure, the law or the system; on the other hand, CSIS submits evidence, but the person concerned is not allowed to see this evidence. As far as CIC is concerned, it invokes the pre-removal risk assessment, or PRRA. Considering that everyone seems to refer to the PRRA, I would not want to be in the shoes of the public servant who conducts this assessment.
In addition, the recourses of the persons under suspicion are very restricted in connection with the decisions that Citizenship and Immigration makes about them. Have you ever had doubts about decisions made by PRRA officers? Everything depends on them and CSIS. Do you blindly accept the decisions made by the PRRA officers?
After the Maher Arar case, you will understand that the committee is concerned about the process. When persons are locked up for long periods, the time required to collect the evidence is invoked. During this process, do you question the quality of the information obtained? To what extent is it reliable? Are your decisions based on suspicions? This is what happened in the Maher Arar case.
I will have other questions to ask later.