Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Clause 8 of Bill C-44 is very troubling. I'm even more troubled to hear Diane suggest that we'll have a lot of instances where we'll want to have warrants that may be used in other countries. We're explicitly setting out in this law that Canada's agents can operate knowingly in violation of the sovereignty and rule of law in another country. This was already drawn to the committee's attention as a source of concern by two different branches of the Canadian Bar Association, the immigration law section and the criminal justice section. They advised us, “we urge caution in adopting an approach that could suggest Canada is disregarding its obligations under international law.” I think definitely, as the Canadian Bar Association also pointed out, it could also undermine mutual cooperation.
With this amendment, Green Party 4, I've attempted to ensure that at least within the federal cabinet, the director, before applying to the court for a warrant that would apply extraterritorially, will be required to also consult with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This way we'll be certain that if there are other diplomatic considerations, other trade considerations, at least the Minister of Foreign Affairs is in the loop before the director, in this case, goes and seeks a warrant from a Canadian court to allow CSIS agents to break the law overseas.