Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I've jotted down a few notes. Number one, I think we have to remind ourselves and Canadians that these sections we're dealing with and the whole Anti-terrorism Act in and of itself was brought in by a previous government. It has not been significantly changed.
The only thing that was changed...specifically, some of the sections were changed as a result of direction from the Supreme Court of Canada, which says that these are wholly appropriate, so when you hear about serious violations of human rights and all those things, the courts have already determined that they are indeed acceptable in Canada because of the situation in the world. The world we live in is shrinking every day. In the past, it took weeks for minor things that happened to be reported here, and now it takes seconds. I hear about “serious violations of human rights”, etc., etc., but as I say, the courts have already determined that these are within the scope of our current laws.
On the sunset clause, any and every Canadian knows that this place works so bloody slowly that two years is like lightning speed around here. Five years is wholly appropriate. If you go back to the fact that we're in a minority government situation, as was mentioned, I had the privilege of being on this committee some four years ago when we had to look at...we were already behind the five-year mark. With the assistance of the official opposition, we got the bill put back before Parliament. So a sunset clause of five years is wholly appropriate, as the previous Parliament decided, because of the slow pace at which this place works.
When we talk about oversight, there is no less oversight today than there was during the previous government. So complaining that oversight is a huge problem, I would have to say, is perhaps the result of an unwillingness to cooperate and to look at the situation now. Some of those oversight issues occurred as a result of situations that occurred during the last government, and some occurred during this government. As for the fact that there is perhaps a need for more oversight, I can see the value, perhaps, in this Parliament working in a cooperative way to see that it's done. But cooperation is a two-way street that we don't often see as a government.
When I hear that there's a cavalier disregard on the part of this government towards civil liberties, once again I say that the Supreme Court has already made that decision. The Supreme Court is not clouded with political rhetoric or a political stance. It listens to all the arguments, pro and con, and once again I state for the record that it is not cavalier; this government is adhering to what the Supreme Court said.
I think it's good that we have a healthy debate, but you know, as we talk and hold up legislation that is totally designed to protect Canadians, they are aware of what's happening around this world. They're aware of what's happening in their own country. They hear experts, both domestic and external, tell us how lucky we are in this country that we have not experienced terrorist events like they have in Great Britain, Spain, and other countries--and I purposely left out the United States.
On this business of the police threatening, perhaps some people, from time to time, because police officers really do care about what they do.... I think what he's referring to is probably CSIS officials. Perhaps they weren't sensitive enough to the community they were speaking to at the time. But I will say this, and say it without equivocation, that the vast majority--I'm talking 98% or 99%--of police officers and CSIS officials in this country operate with the public's best interests at heart, and they care about the community they're sworn to protect. To suggest that it's rampant that the police, CSIS officials, and other officials are quashing particular ethnic communities I think is an overstatement in the extreme.
And to say that the Criminal Code is sufficient? The Criminal Code is a work in progress. The Criminal Code is a document that governs the society of the day. If we are saying that everything is perfect and we should just leave it alone, then why are we here? Part of the job we do as lawmakers is to look at the law and see when it needs to be changed. To say that the Criminal Code is some holy, sacrosanct document that can never be touched except under the most extreme circumstances and that it's the answer to all our problems is I think once again telling people something that is absolutely not the case.
I was taught as a police officer when I first began that the law doesn't mean much if the average person out there cannot understand and comprehend, number one, why this document that governs some part of our social behaviour is the way it is and that it governs us and it punishes those who would have anti-social behaviour. So the Anti-terrorism Act is totally within the scope of proper due diligence on the part of the government. If this government didn't do something and didn't maintain what I believe to be an appropriate document, which, by the way, we were directed to bring in because of a United Nations edict...the United Nations, after 9/11, said that every nation should do two things. They should make sure that they bring in anti-terrorism legislation, and then they had NATO enforce some of what I would say is the policing of nations that would export terror, and that's why we're in Afghanistan. I think Canadians need to know that and I think Canadians understand that.
Mr. Chair, I think these amendments are totally within the scope of the law. The Supreme Court has said that they are totally appropriate.