Public Safety committee  I'm not sure what criticisms we've heard. There's always a desire, I would say, on the part of people in elected office to be able to get at the information they would like to with respect to the inner workings of the security intelligence establishment in every country. Some co

Public Safety committee  That's difficult for me to say, because I think our primary role is to find fault, to be a watchdog, to be very assertive in attempting to find out information, and from time to time to be critical. Having said that, I think it's a very respectful relationship, and we certainly r

Public Safety committee  I can't really. As a general term, I think the service is admired by its peers, though.

Public Safety committee  The response is yes. Perhaps the difference is that we're not on a political timetable.

Public Safety committee  I'm not sure that this is anything more than an experienced opinion, but that's the only thing I can give you. We meet regularly, at least every second year, with bodies that do similar work from all over the world—typically 10 or 12 countries with whom we have good relationship

Public Safety committee  That is correct.

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  I think that's something you'll have to ask the director.

Public Safety committee  As I said, we're just doing our Afghan detainee review this year as part of our work plan, so I don't have that information right now.

Public Safety committee  Subject to national security constraints, I'd be happy to provide you with that information.

Public Safety committee  We are just discussing this, because generally speaking we don't speak about specific individuals who are being reviewed or investigated by us.

Public Safety committee  As I said just a moment ago, we have examined those agreements. We're satisfied that the agreements are appropriate in the circumstances, that they cover the issues of how the information is exchanged, what kind of information is exchanged, the use of appropriate caveats and limi

Public Safety committee  I think that's leading the witness, but--

Public Safety committee  I appreciate what you're saying. I would just say that I believe, in the nine years that I've been both a member and chair of SIRC, that I've conducted myself in a totally non-partisan vein. I'm sure that members know that I was appointed to the committee by the Liberal governm

Public Safety committee  I should say that we examine all their agreements--their cooperation and interchange-of-information agreements. They now have, I believe, 278 of them, with more than 140 countries.