Thank you.
I may have heard it incorrectly, but I think the Green Party member mentioned the BC Civil Liberties Association. This is an organization that opposed, going way back to 1983, the original CSIS Act. They had similar concerns about the 2001 Anti-terrorism Act. Of course, none of those came to fruition. The sky did not fall back then, it didn't fall in 2001, and it's certainly not going to fall in 2015.
This amendment has the completely opposite intent to the proposed paragraph in the bill. We heard very clearly from credible witnesses in law enforcement, security and intelligence gathering, including Inspector Irwin, how important these measures are. We heard from Commissioner Paulson with respect specifically to the Criminal Code amendments, and the importance of lowering the threshold so that our law enforcement have the proper tools, the ability to actually conduct this type of work. Again, the intent of this bill is to prevent terrorist attacks from happening.
I will not be supporting this amendment.