Thank you.
Good afternoon to the committee. Let me introduce my colleague, Pantea Jafari, a fellow board member of the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association . My name is Mueed Peerbhoy. We'd like to thank the committee for inviting us to speak to Bill C-23 today.
The Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association has been active in the discourse on national security laws and policies in Canada. We have made submissions to and testified before several parliamentary committees examining national security, human rights, and civil liberties on numerous occasions since 2001. We are pleased to make a contribution to the study of Bill C-23 and to national security laws and policies more generally, because these are matters that are important to all Canadians.
Our core values are the values held by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The second piece is the rule of law in Canada and holding our elected officials accountable for the necessity and efficiency of the legislation they propose and implement. The third piece we seek to uphold is the dignity of all persons in Canada and the promotion of human rights. We will speak when Canadian Muslims and Muslims in Canada are adversely affected by proposed legislation, but that is not our only focus. We speak to the dignity of all persons in Canada.
I will now turn it over to my colleague, who will speak to the substantive provisions of Bill C-23.