Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you both for being here.
I want to take advantage of the remaining few minutes to take you a little bit away from the mechanics of effective review, which is most of what we heard this afternoon both in this panel and in its predecessor, to look at the social and political environment in which this committee is going to operate, with a specific focus on and interest in the creation of a public value of trust in government.
I sit on the defence committee as well. That committee has received evidence that I will put to you. The single biggest threat against Canadian society is domestic terrorism. In fact, it is domestic terrorism that really has brought some very specific concerns by particular communities in Canada with respect to the former Bill C-51. When we talk about the creation of trust in governments specifically through that lens of domestic terrorism, I think it's a very salient topic. Public Safety's “2016 Public Report On The Terrorist Threat To Canada” outlines that in some detail.
Assuming, then, that a good chunk of the committee's work is taken up by a review of action, intelligence gathering, and other activities with respect to domestic terrorism, what will that mean for this committee, both with respect to the mechanics of effective review, as we've discussed it, and equally important, with respect to its role, as has been described by Professor Wark, as an educator and as an outreach mechanism to the Canadian public?
My hunch is that the Canadian public isn't at par even with the parliamentarians who will be appointed to this committee with respect to an understanding of national security, and this committee will face some constraints in terms of bridging that gap.
I wanted to hear from you what levers are reflected in the bill and what levers are at our disposal administratively or in terms of resourcing this committee to make sure it can play that role well and enhance public trust in government.