Thank you, Chair. Thank you to the witnesses who are here today to assist us. My question is for Mr. McLeod.
As I understand it, a security guard is usually privately and formally employed and is paid to protect property assets and/or people. I realize there are many variations of that job description. Security guards maintain a highly visible presence, and I assume that is done to deter illegal and/or inappropriate actions, by observing either directly or through patrols, for instance. You were talking about electronic surveillance and the modern technologies we have today to assist us when looking for signs of crime, fire, disorder, and that sort of thing.
Bill C-26 would allow security guards, as designated persons, to take appropriate action to prevent crimes from happening as long as they act reasonably.
I have a couple of questions. Should private security guards, in your view, be able to act, or should they just be reporting incidents back to their clients, employers, or emergency services, as appropriate? In other words, when security personnel are doing their jobs in the real world, what do you see as an appropriate limit between just reporting and actually acting?