Thank you, Minister.
It will come as no surprise to this committee that the RCMP and police leaders across the country are very supportive of Bill C-22, as well as the creation of a lawful access regime. We are the only Five Eyes country without a lawful access regime, and when you look at the larger G-20 consortium of countries, we're also the only country that is not a part of that.
For us, this is about victims. For us, this is about solving crime. We believe that there is a balance of opportunities here between public privacy and, quite frankly, allowing lawful investigations. I think that's the key. We're not asking for any unchecked police powers. We're asking for good governance, good democracy and a judicially authorized ability to investigate.
I want to highlight the notion of encryption. Of course, the world has changed. The reality is that we currently do have abilities to intercept and to deal with encryption. However, the reality is that technology is changing at a greater rate than we can keep up with legislative reform.
You've likely heard from some of my colleagues in policing, including Commissioner Carrique, that police leaders and police union executives have been trying to advance a lawful access framework since around 1996. We've come close multiple times. We believe it, in the current geopolitical climate, is a tool that we need. We have significant national security investigations. We have significant serious organized crime investigations where encryption is at the heart of stymying the prosecution and, quite frankly, the undercurrent of solving those crimes.
Again, it will come as no surprise to this committee that the RCMP, along with our policing partners and our colleagues from the service, are supportive of a regime that provides good governance and strong oversight to ensure that there is no unchecked...that puts the privacy of Canadian citizens but doesn't override those who commit the crimes—those individuals who perpetrate crimes against children, perpetrate drug trafficking, perpetrate illicit firearm trafficking.
The tools within Bill C-22 are required for us to be a modernized police community in Canada.