Thank you, Chair.
This amendment seeks to drop the word “lawful” from what's called “lawful advocacy” in the CSIS Act, the reason being that when there are “on the fly” determinations being made, we feel that “advocacy” protects more rights, as opposed to having CSIS make the determination of whether the advocacy is lawful.
Moreover, it also protects groups that may have certain individuals associating themselves with said groups and comporting themselves in an unlawful way. It would not have the group be targeted that way for what is lawful advocacy with perhaps individuals committing unlawful behaviour.
By removing the word “lawful” and keeping it as “advocacy”, there is a more robust rights protection. This was a recommendation by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.