Mr. Speaker, the bill is indeed very big, but it deals with just one subject: national security. It was vital that we take the time to thoroughly study the issue, and that is what we did. The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security heard from security experts who gave testimony setting out their point of view and explaining how important it was.
This is no small matter. It can be divided into several smaller components, but it is important to have a big-picture perspective of national security. We must not compartmentalize. For decades, the various elements of our security were compartmentalized, with a little bit here and a little bit there. We need to gather all these elements together to see the big picture.
Craig Forcese from the University of Toronto and expert Kent Roach said in an article that the bill represents “...solid gains—measured both from a rule of law and civil liberties perspective...at no credible cost to security.” They also said that “...[It] rolls back much of the unnecessary overkill of the Harper era’s Bill C-51.”
University of Toronto expert Wesley Wark, said that “If Canada can make this new system work, it will return the country to the forefront of democracies determined to hold their security and intelligence systems to account....”
That is testimony from expert witnesses at committee.