There's much that goes through my mind, having been to most major demonstrations in the city of Toronto, some here in Ottawa, and some in other parts of this province since 1993.
I will say that for our system to work we do need people to protest. We do need checks and balances in the system. We do need—and here I think of my early days in dealing with hate propaganda, and the importance of needing the Attorney General's consents on what is free speech—the same as the terrorism offences.
It's not for law enforcement, which tends to be hard-right leaning. It is government, and it is a sitting government that has Attorney General who consents. In many of these sections it's the Minister of Public Safety. That allows for the political piece to authorize and justify.
I trust that there are other criminal offences in the Criminal Code—we hosted a very robust G-8, G-20 in Toronto, in 2010—and there are sections of the Criminal Code that were looked at that might also fit into the definitions here.
I will say, in my experience—and now with my 22 years in intelligence, criminal intelligence, and national security—we are being more open and certainly more tolerant of a number people who have a difference of opinion and who take over streets. It's not being criminalized. Certainly there are many areas that I do not believe the security service is targeting.
I believe that it will require government and the powers that be to be very cognizant. To the issue of the first nations, I will qualify that when I started to prepare for this, I was really focused on that international jihadist threat. I appreciate the impact it has on domestic groups and individuals, and certainly first nation people.