Public Safety committee  That's correct.

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  I think that ought to be done and ought to be a part of the mandate, given the particular expertise that the OCSE commissioner or the Information Commissioner would have.

Public Safety committee  There are certain circumstances in which the courts will bring in an amicus curiae or special advocates with respect to specific concerns the courts have. At the CBA, it's not something we've considered with respect to this particular framework, but it's definitely something that ought to be open and has been opened in the past to the federal court when bringing an amicus in with respect to specific concerns.

Public Safety committee  The concern we have with the vagueness of the mandate is how NSIRA is to measure how it is being effective in relation to its mandate, and how it is to deploy its resources. If you have an overly broad definition of intelligence and national security in general, it covers such a broad swath of things that, where there is an actual requirement for oversight, the NSIRA may find itself overwhelmed with complaints about the Canada Border Services Agency, for example, or looking into intelligence activities of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or—

Public Safety committee  What I would suggest is that there be one clear definition of national security and threats to national security. The definition in the CSIS Act has been used for a long time, and it's only with Bill C-51 that we ended up with another definition that created a lack of clarity with the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act.

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much for inviting me to appear before you today. Bill C-59 proposes complex and major updates to national security law. It would address several decisions of the Federal Court of Canada, and widespread concerns expressed about Bill C-51 in 2015. The Canadian Bar Association generally supports the goals and structure of Bill C-59 as a positive change, modernizing the legal framework for Canada’s national security infrastructure and increasing transparency, oversight and review, features that have previously been lacking.