Madam Speaker, my concern with the bill is the sunset clause, which was initially put in the bill when this became legislation. There was a great deal of concern among parliamentarians about the extraordinary powers that were being delivered to the police.
The Conservatives say that this would only be used in the case of an imminent terrorist attack, yet in jurisdiction after jurisdiction police officers can defend all kinds of powers on the basis that it will help stop some kind of nefarious activity.
For many years, a process of internment in Ireland was supposed to be a process to stop the IRA. Ireland also had processes where people were taken and held without trial for long periods of time. Again and again we have seen serious injustices, like the Guildford trials and the Birmingham bombings.
The question I would ask my colleague is on the provision of being hold someone for 12 months without charges. If there is an imminent attack, we want to ensure the provisions are in place to respond. However, police will always say there is a good reason for picking people up and holding them for 12 months.
In the case of Harkat, CSIS provided false information. In the case of Mr. Abdelrazik in Sudan, the government continues to deny his rights. It cannot even bring any kind of claim against him, yet those rights are denied again and again.
Does my hon. colleague think it is good enough to say that we will have parliamentary oversight of a provision that really undermines fundamental due process in our country?