Mr. Speaker, I rise today in response to the question of privilege raised by the hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock—Langley. In her statement she referred to the misconduct as she alleges, and general misuse of authority she further alleges, by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in the exercise of extraordinary powers.
She further noted that in her view CSIS deliberately misled the federal court and frustrated her ability to resolve her lawsuit. She alleges that this was done to intimidate her as a member of parliament and it is therefore in her view a breach of privilege and she contends, a contempt of parliament.
It is a matter of public record that this lawsuit by a private litigant stems from the actions taken by an hon. member outside of the House of Commons. In her statement the hon. member in question raised three broad allegations: one, that CSIS improperly collected and disclosed information; two, that CSIS took an active and thereby inappropriate role in the preparation of a lawsuit against the hon. member; and three, that CSIS misused its authority to protect national security and deliberately misled the court, so she said.
With respect to the collection and disclosure of information by CSIS, document 17 of the documents provided by the hon. member indicates at Q.36 that CSIS was collecting public information to maintain an awareness of current events and public issues that may affect its mandated investigative responsibilities. It then disclosed this public—I add public—unclassified information to the plaintiff who, as indicated at Q.10, was a former employee of CSIS.
None of the documentation provided any prima facie evidence, in my view, that the behaviour of CSIS in this case was contrary to law nor motivated by any desire to affect in any way the behaviour of the hon. member, let alone intimidate her, in her capacity as a member of parliament.
I now turn to the express desire of the hon. member to have this matter heard by a committee of this House. I believe that the information provided by the hon. member does not amount to prima facie contempt of the House, nor does it constitute a prima facie breach of privilege. Any actions taken by CSIS during the course of this private lawsuit were completely unrelated to the ability of the hon. member to perform her duties in parliament, I contend.
The hon. member may have a complaint about CSIS and of course with time we will judge whether or not that complaint is valid. However, on the basis of the evidence submitted, I maintain that any such complaint is not within the realm of parliamentary privilege or contempt.
The most appropriate vehicle for an examination of this matter is the recourse mechanism established by parliament for all Canadians who disagree with the conduct of CSIS, including its collection and disclosure of information. It is our view that the far more appropriate course would be for the Security Intelligence Review Committee, better known as SIRC, to examine this matter. This committee was established by parliament to review all complaints against CSIS, including those from members of the House. It is composed of a number of distinguished Canadians, including former members of the House, and a person no less than the former House leader from the opposition party.
In conclusion, I submit that the hon. member has not submitted sufficient evidence to justify a prima facie finding of contempt or breach of privilege but that, if otherwise there is a substantive complaint against CSIS, the proper recourse is to the Security Intelligence Review Committee. We believe this process was established by statute law to protect the rights of all Canadians, including members of parliament and that it ought to be properly followed.