Thank you for having me.
I'd like to begin by saying that I am strongly in favour of amendments to the Criminal Code to facilitate the funding and delivery of humanitarian aid and development assistance in areas that may be controlled by entities listed by the international community or the Canadian government as terrorists. The listing of terrorist entities by both the UN and in Canada is a political process. That process should not condemn those who live under these regimes to suffer from starvation or lack of medical care and education.
I believe that Bill C-41 is an honest attempt to strike a balance between the need to ensure terrorist organizations do not benefit from the funds brought into these areas of control by NGOs and government agencies and the need for NGOs and agencies to provide humanitarian and development assistance. However, I think a few amendments are required to better strike that balance.
First, I believe the bill should include a humanitarian exception to the current subsection 83.03(b) of the Criminal Code, as recommended by the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights. Specifically, this exemption could mirror the language already in the definition of “terrorist activity” in section 83.01 of the Criminal Code by stipulating that subsection 83.03(2) does not apply to the provision of humanitarian assistance during an armed conflict and that at the time and the place of its provision is in accordance with customary international law or conventional international law applicable to the conflict.
For those activities that do not fall within this exception—for example, education and other development-type aids that do not meet the definition of “humanitarian assistance” under international humanitarian law—organizations could apply for an authorization as set out in the draft bill. This amendment would ensure that the direst needs of populations subject to an armed conflict could receive the most critical aid from humanitarian organizations without the added burden of those organizations seeking an authorization from the Government of Canada.
Second, under the authorization regime, the factors that the ministers of public safety may consider in their security reviews are vague and raise concerns under section 2 of the charter, namely subsection 2(d), which protects freedom of association.
Specifically, as Ms. Davis mentioned, proposed paragraph 83.032(10)(a) currently states the factor the minister may consider is “whether the applicant or any person who is to be involved in carrying out the activity proposed in the application has any links to a terrorist group”. It is notable that the term “links” is not used elsewhere in Canadian law to capture personal relationships, but rather it is used to describe a physical connection or to describe a means of communication, such as a video link.
This novel use of this vague term in this context poses a number of concerns. First, conceivably, the term “links” captures any form of personal connection, however remote, between anyone within the organization and those who may assist the organization in providing aid. I have met with ISIS members in detention and worked with their families to advocate their release. Am I linked to ISIS?
Humanitarian organizations often need to have relationships with all parties to a conflict to do their jobs. It is literally part of the mandate of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent.
I also served in Afghanistan, and I know that for a time, almost everyone in Afghanistan had some sort of link to someone in al Qaeda or Taliban to some extent. We're talking about places like Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and potentially Syria and Nigeria. This is not a bill designed for authorizing activities in environments like the one here in Canada, where connections to members who may be affiliated with terrorist organizations are a rarity.
Lastly, the charter protects freedom of association. It is for this reason that we do not criminalize mere membership in a terrorist organization in Canada. Denying an authorization on the basis of mere association with a terrorist group means criminalizing the work of humanitarian organizations in places like Afghanistan, where their work is most desperately needed.
For this reason, I believe that this paragraph should be struck from the legislation.
These two amendments would ensure a more equitable balance between security and the humanitarian needs of affected populations. Ultimately, however, the success of this authorization regime will be entirely dependent on the transparency of the process and ensuring that there are sufficient resources to process applications quickly and fairly.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to your questions.