Mr. Speaker, the government claims to be cracking down on terrorists, and through Bill C-51, our security agencies are about to assume broad new powers. However, our security agencies lack the resources to carry out even their current mandates. Both the RCMP commissioner and the deputy CSIS director clearly told parliamentary committees last October as much, that a lack of resources makes tracking all extremists at all times simply impossible. Now we have learned that collectively, CSIS, the RCMP, and the Department of Defence have allowed $11 billion to go unspent and lapse.
In its zeal to balance its budget in an election year, does the government not understand that increased security powers without adequate resources is an exercise in futility?