I'll try to make this as succinct as possible, but it may not be.
My interest, quite frankly, is directly related to the RCMP as a result of some of the questions yesterday with SIRC and further meetings of this committee with regard to the information flow in the Arar case. Some disconnects and some problematic instances were observed by me and other committee members. It specifically relates to SIRC's attendance here yesterday and my discussion with them with regard to best practices as shared by sister agencies in the international community.
One of the differences between Canada and many other international bodies is the fact that there is a lack of a parliamentary oversight committee and the overall numbers of agencies that have information, and also how that information flows from one to the other.
Mr. Minister, has the government--cabinet in particular, if it's possible to discuss it—given consideration to a parliamentary oversight committee that would be sworn to secrecy and that would ensure that, for our agencies dealing with public safety and specifically national security, there is an oversight body of elected civilians who can oversee the total operation of government?