Thank you for your question. There is no doubt that Canada, like every other country in the world, has to protect itself from terrorism. That is why we have laws like the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Criminal Code. It is equally clear that Canada, like any other country in the world, has the right and even the duty to control immigration. It has the right to refuse foreigners the right to enter Canada. We are not talking about immigration or terrorism, however; we're talking about how the Anti-Terrorism Act is used, an Act that contains no oversight mechanism or counterweight with respect to deporting people and combating terrorism. That is the problem with security certificates, and that is why the Canadian Bar Association, the Barreau du Québec, Amnesty International and all these groups are opposed to Bill C-3. And that is why we intend to challenge it before the Supreme Court of Canada. It's the use…
The Supreme Court ruling was clear: in order for security certificates to be constitutional, they must, at the very least, be associated with a fair trial. What is a fair trial? I believe many of you are well qualified to determine that, and are even lawyers. If we're talking about a fair trial, the first thing is to have access to the evidence against you or be able to test or challenge it. It means being told of the allegations.
Let me answer your first question: how can Bill C-3 be improved? If it were up to me to choose, there would be no Bill C-3. The criminal law, which applies to everyone, already exists. If we want to improve it, we must first resolve the matter of the evidentiary standard. Second, we have to look at the quality of the evidence. It can be obtained under torture. In such cases, that is not evidence. The use of the term “evidence” is also a sham. This is intelligence, not evidence. There is no evidence against me; there are only CSIS reports.
Third, there is the definition of “terrorism”.