Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my paranoid friend from St. John's East.
I just want to correct some things that the member put on the record.
The commissioner for CSEC just this weekend released the following statement:
As Commissioner, I am independent of the government and of CSEC, and as such do not take direction from any minister of the crown or from CSEC.
He is truly independent. He reports to Parliament, and we get that report on an annual basis.
They have been looking at this for over 16 years and have never found CSEC to be acting unlawfully. CSEC has to respect the laws of the land, the Privacy Act, the Criminal Code, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. All of that is taken into consideration by the commissioner, who is a supernumerary judge and always has the best wishes of Canadians in his thought process as well as the security of Canadians at home and abroad.
On the comment the member made on the cellphone, I just want to point out that CSEC has to act within the law. First of all, CSEC cannot target Canadians at home or abroad. Also, when it is working with its partners in security, whether the RCMP or CSIS, it has to follow the Criminal Code. As the member pointed out, it has to be done through a court order or through a warrant.
Again, CSEC is not out there monitoring everything going on in cyberspace or what is happening on our BlackBerrys and cellphones. If it happens, it is done through a court order, within the law and the mandate it has, as well as when working with the RCMP and CSIS.