Well, Mr. Chair, this is an open-ended meeting, if I'm not mistaken, so if we say inflammatory things to one another, we could be in for a very, very long day, because there will be a need for everybody to respond.
I have to say that I'm disappointed by Mr. Davies' comments. I'm disappointed by them because I think there has to be an acknowledgement that over the past 10 years there has been an effort to try to find the line for where we draw rules on how we deal with anti-terrorism efforts. I think that after 9/11, appropriately, action was taken to try to empower law enforcement officials with the tools that were thought to be needed to combat terrorism. Obviously, there was a lot of worry at that particular moment. Quick action by the government was necessary and was supported I think by all parties. I don't recall the NDP voting against that or speaking out against those measures immediately after 9/11.
Appropriately, there was a five-year review mechanism that was put in place. When that review took place, one has to remember that there were a lot of instances that...while they may have happened earlier, the reports, the judicial inquiries, weren't tabled until about four and a half years ago, when the first one arrived. So the recommendations for which I speak that have not been acted on were certainly beginning to be present at that period of time and have been over the last while.
The debate that is before us is essentially to weigh the relative merit of these measures in empowering law enforcement agencies to conduct counterterrorism measures versus the potential for abuse and the potential for civil liberty violations. The concern I've expressed throughout these proceedings is that the existing mechanisms by which we provide oversight for security and intelligence are insufficient and have led to some great human tragedies that have played out for innocent Canadian citizens, and I have maintained throughout this process that it's difficult to contemplate enactment of new measures without proper oversight of the existing situation.
Now, on the possibility of having this reviewed more frequently, as I say, the way we work is.... We have a caucus legislative committee tonight. That has to be something that I take to caucus legislative committee in order to be able to ascertain what our position would be.
But to assert that by this going out of committee today we're somehow allowing it to go out of committee, when Mr. Davies knows perfectly well that this is going to the House of Commons for a third reading vote no matter what happens here today, folks...so it is a dishonest assertion. The point is that this is a serious debate around a very serious matter about where you draw a line and what mechanisms of oversight you have, and that deserves careful and prudent discussion and review. That's certainly what we're here to do.
Mr. Chairman, I think our positions are clear and well stated, and I hope we can focus on the substance of amendments going forward.
Thank you.