Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Assalamu alykum. Peace be with you. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today.
My name is Khaled Alqazzaz, and I am the executive director of the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council. CMPAC is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing civil liberties, addressing systemic Islamophobia and ensuring that Muslim perspectives are represented in public policy.
CMPAC submits that Bill C-22 should be withdrawn. At a minimum, part 2 of the legislation, the supporting authorized access to information act, should be removed in its entirety, and the provisions in part 1 that lower the threshold for access to subscriber information should be amended.
For Muslim Canadians, surveillance powers carry a particular significance. Muslim communities have been disproportionately affected by national security and counterterrorism measures, particularly where expansive investigative authorities have operated with limited accountability and oversight. These experiences reinforce concerns that expanded surveillance powers disproportionately affect racialized and religious minority groups.
Privacy scholars and legal experts—in a joint letter sent to the Prime Minister by civil liberties organizations, refugee rights organizations, academics and digital rights organizations—concluded that, if adopted as is, “Bill C-22 will be the most expansive invasion of Canadian privacy rights in modern history, and will put the cybersecurity of everyone in Canada at unacceptable risk”.
The details of our submission will be shared with the committee right after this meeting. However, here is a summary of our main concerns.
Of particular concern is the creation of new production orders for subscriber information based on the lower standard of “reasonable grounds to suspect” versus “grounds to believe”.
Part 2 of the bill raises even greater difficulties. The SAAIA grants broad regulatory and ministerial powers to compel service providers to facilitate access to information and retain metadata. The practical effect would be to increase the state's ability to collect, organize and analyze information capable of revealing religious participation, political engagement, community relationships and patterns of association. When metadata is collected and retained on a broad scale, such information permits forms of associational surveillance capable of exposing lawful religious, charitable and advocacy activities.
The second part with regard to part 2 is that by authorizing the government to require all electronic service providers to modify their systems and develop technical capabilities that facilitate access to information, Bill C-22 risks creating vulnerabilities that could weaken the security of Canadians’ communications and personal information. Once vulnerabilities exist, they may be exploited not only by Canadian authorities but also by foreign governments, cybercriminals and other malicious actors.
Also, in part 2, the extensive reliance on secret orders is quite problematic. Powers exercised through confidential directives with limited transparency create obvious accountability deficits. Fundamental rights require meaningful oversight and transparency.
Now I'll leave you with two examples, one from our community.
Many members of the Muslim community across Canada are immigrants, refugees and individuals with family connections in countries characterized by weak rule of law, political instability or authoritarian governance. In such contexts, the low threshold of “reasonable grounds to suspect” for foreign entities to request personal data held in Canada, along with the lack of dual criminality provisions in changes to the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, can create serious risks, including transnational repression, intimidation of family members, travel restrictions or other forms of retaliation. These concerns are particularly significant where information may be requested or shared based on conduct that is not necessarily unlawful under Canadian law.
The second example is about concerns that extend beyond any single community and that could affect all Canadians, including members of Parliament who engage in international travel or diplomatic activities. Several MPs have already been investigated for potential foreign interference. By lowering the threshold to “reasonable grounds to suspect,” Bill C-22 would permit the collection of significant amounts of personal information. Such collection may impact suspected MPs and a broader circle of friends and family. This data can potentially be requested by foreign state agencies as part of an investigation, having direct and indirect impacts on the individuals investigated. While such measures may be justified in limited cases, their impact often extends beyond the individual under investigation.
Furthermore, as a result of the legislation, ESPs would face additional vulnerabilities, exposing them to higher risks of hacking and data breaches, impacting every citizen, activist and, potentially, senior politician and subjecting them to extortion and targeting.
To wrap up, expanded surveillance powers could disproportionately affect Muslim, racialized, indigenous and other marginalized communities. For this reason, CMPAC urges the withdrawal of Bill C-22 for review. Public safety is a legitimate objective, but measures pursued in its name must remain consistent with constitutional rights, fundamental freedoms and democratic accountability.
Thank you.