Good evening, everyone. It's great to see you in such fine form and good humour on this Wednesday evening.
I call this meeting to order. Welcome to meeting No. 45 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the House on April 20, the motion adopted by the committee on April 30 and the motion adopted by the House today, June 17, we are meeting on the study of Bill C‑22, An Act respecting lawful access.
As always, I'd like to welcome the witnesses.
From the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, we have Ramzi Nashef and Juanita M.
From the Department of Justice, we have Kimberly Gibner and Normand Wong.
From the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, we have Richard Bilodeau, Shannon Hiegel and Fenton Ho.
From the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, we have Chief Superintendent Richard Burchill and Sergeant Aaron Gilkes.
I'm going to cheat a bit on the usual procedure. Since it's going to be hard at the end of the meeting to properly thank the witnesses we still have before us this evening, I'm going to do so right away.
We are very grateful for your time and expertise as you have guided us over the past few days and indeed the past few hours. It seems like we've been meeting frequently over the last little while. Thank you very much for that.
I'll also take this opportunity to thank the interpreters who are with us in a demanding environment. A number of us, including Ms. DeBellefeuille, have rightly pointed that out. Our committee sometimes looks into technical issues, so it can be hard for both the interpreters and the members of our committee who depend on the exceptional quality of interpretation.
I also want to thank the technicians, who stay very discreetly hidden behind their desks and screens and who are here to serve us.
Thank you to everyone at the back of the room or elsewhere who has been there and is still there today to help us do this work for Canadians.
I'm sure the committee members join me in wishing you the very best as you continue this demanding work. We extend you our sincere gratitude.
We will now resume clause‑by‑clause consideration of Bill C‑22.
(On clause 9)