Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to our witnesses, Mr. Forcese and Mr. O'Rourke. Also, Mr. Roach, for interrupting your holiday there, thank you.
Mr. Forcese, I'd like to ask you a question initially.
Professor, I thank you for the good work that you and Mr. Roach have done on analyzing this anti-terrorism act, 2015. I know you've spent a considerable amount of time on it. You highlighted something that is very important to our Conservative government, namely the facts and the details, and you identified early on that it's in the details that it's very important that we get things right. Certainly, that is something our government wants to do as well.
I'd like to quote from one of your background documents where you say the scope of the definition of “activities that undermine the security of Canada” is too broad and the language used is too vague, which could lead to excessive sharing.
I'm not a lawyer, but I'm coming to realize, having spent a little bit of time in this place already, that analyzing legislation that comes before me is very important. One of the most important lessons I've learned is to try to understand it by reading exactly what it says.
As I read the legislation, it occurs to me that the definition should not be read in isolation from the test for disclosure under clause 5 of the security of Canada information sharing act, which further restricts what information can be shared by requiring that information only be shared if it is relevant to the national security jurisdiction or responsibilities of the recipients. I believe that the definition was intended to be brought in order to cover any information that's relevant to the security of Canada, to be useful to non-national security institutions that need to share that information with national security institutions. I also believe that it's important to remember that even if this activity fits under the examples provided under the definition it still needs to meet the threshold and the chapeau. As an example, it needs to undermine the sovereignty, security, or territorial integrity of Canada, or the life or the security of its people; in other words, the activity must affect Canada on a national scale. It's also important to note that the definition does not include activities that fall within the purview of general law enforcement unless they qualify as activities that undermine the security of Canada.
Have you considered this angle at all in any of your analysis? Would you be able to provide some commentary on that?