Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  We do. If it is the subject of a request and the subject of a complaint, we have the ability to review all the records, regardless of whether it's ongoing, not ongoing, human sources. We see all the information.

Public Safety committee  It is helpful. That's the kind of thing that would go to the issue of public trust, and it then becomes an issue of public trust for the government, as well. It will actually touch both politically and on the work of the committee. Ultimately, it is a decision for Parliament, but I think those are the concerns.

Public Safety committee  Subject to exemptions.

Public Safety committee  That members of the public could complain to the committee—

Public Safety committee  —under Bill C-22? Not that I can see.

Public Safety committee  That would probably be included in there.

Public Safety committee  It depends what you mean by “national defence”.

Public Safety committee  I think what can possibly happen is it's very difficult when you have a statutory creature that's given a very broad mandate but not the tools to do that mandate, it's over time that the public trust erodes because the committee will be hamstrung in doing its work. It's over time that public trust will diminish.

Public Safety committee  Currently on our inventory, we have 400-and-some files dealing with national security. We see everything that we need to see. Whenever there are requests for information, we see the full gamut of the information. However—and this is an interesting option for the committee being formed under Bill C-22—when we're dealing with highly sensitive information, we go on site to view and review the information.

Public Safety committee  Well, first, on the very specific, on the cabinet confidence, the way it is in Bill C-22, it actually refers to the Canada Evidence Act. This definition of cabinet confidence is not the same definition as we have in the Access to Information Act. The jurisprudence has actually interpreted that to include some weighing of public interest, which I think is actually good here in C-22, the way that it's referring to the Canada Evidence Act for cabinet confidences.

Public Safety committee  What I was thinking of was that the committee would be under public scrutiny because there would be some issues in relation to actions and activities of our national security agencies. The committee would be unable to do its work because it would not have access to information.

Public Safety committee  I'm not an expert on how the British model functions. I'm really approaching this from the perspective of someone who reviews these files. That's really my contribution and my experience. I do think we need an oversight function of our security agencies, so I would really like to see the committee have the proper tools.

Public Safety committee  I would be fired for sure. I'm subject to—

Public Safety committee  The way I understand it, it's a committee of parliamentarians but a statutory committee. The application of parliamentary privilege is specifically excluded from the membership of this committee. My understanding of the bill is that the committee will include senators and House of Commons members, but it will be a statutory committee.