Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, thanks for being here.
I want to quote what the Prime Minister said when we were debating Bill C-51:
An oversight body looks on a continual basis at what is taking place inside an intelligence service and has the mandate to evaluate and guide current actions in “real time.” That is crucial and must be amended, if we are giving CSIS the new powers proposed in Bill C-51.
That's not necessarily what this committee is doing, but I want to go back to Mr. Clement's point about the information that's available, because, Minister Goodale, you quoted Craig Forcese. Professors Atkey, Forcese, and Roach said in The Globe and Mail that they were very concerned about the Prime Minister's ability to redact reports, but also about how much information is shared.
You and Mr. Clement had an exchange over law enforcement investigations, but there is also defence intelligence and special operational information which, as defined by the law, is very broad and leads to a web of instances whereby you basically find yourself in a situation where anything that can even be inferred from the information being given to the committee could be considered off limits to the committee.
Without that information, how can the committee be expected to do its job? That's the first part of the question. Second, if we have a concrete amendment for you to allow that information to be shared, would you accept that?