THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, DEFENCE AND VETERANS AFFAIRS
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Monday, November 25, 2024
The Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs met with videoconference this day at 4 p.m. [ET] for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts; and, in camera, to discuss Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts.
Senator Hassan Yussuff (Chair) in the chair.
[English]
The Chair: Before we begin, I would like to ask all senators and other persons participating to consult the cards on the table for guidelines to prevent audio feedback incidents. Thank you for your cooperation.
Welcome to this meeting of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs. I am Hassan Yussuff, a senator from Ontario and chair of the committee. I am joined today by my fellow committee members, whom I welcome to introduce themselves, beginning with our deputy chair.
[Translation]
Senator Dagenais: Jean-Guy Dagenais, Quebec.
[English]
Senator Richards: Dave Richards, New Brunswick.
Senator Batters: Denise Batters, Saskatchewan.
Senator Patterson: Rebecca Patterson, Ontario.
Senator Cardozo: Andrew Cardozo, Ontario.
Senator M. Deacon: Marty Deacon, Ontario.
Senator Anderson: Margaret Dawn Anderson, Northwest Territories.
Senator McNair: John McNair, New Brunswick.
Senator Dasko: Donna Dasko, Ontario.
Senator Boehm: Peter Boehm, Ontario.
Senator LaBoucane-Benson: Patti LaBoucane-Benson, Treaty 6 territory, Alberta.
Senator Kutcher: Stan Kutcher, Nova Scotia.
The Chair: Thank you, colleagues.
Today we proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts.
Senator Batters?
Senator Batters: Chair, before we get into the actual clause-by-clause part of it, some committees that I have been a part of — and I have not been a member of this one prior to this bill — have a bit of question and answer possibility with the officials who are here. We have many who are here with us today, and there are some questions that I would like to ask them, being the critic of this bill, before we get into the nuts and bolts of the clause-by-clause consideration, because some of those things could affect some of those parts.
The Chair: Sure. We can certainly get the officials who are here, as we will go through it, and we’d be more than happy to have the officials answer any questions that anyone may have.
Senator Batters: Thank you.
Senator McNair: Mr. Chair, I would like to ask if we could consider moving in camera at this stage.
The Chair: Okay. Thank you.
Senator Batters: Why would we move in camera? All of this has been in public. All of our meetings have been in public.
The Chair: I do not know what his point is and why he wants to go in camera yet, so until we hear it, I will reserve judgment on that.
Could I ask the officials to leave the room until we are able to clarify the point that Senator McNair wishes to discuss?
Colleagues, we are not in camera yet. I want to hear Senator McNair’s point regarding going in camera.
Senator McNair: Mr. Chair, I learned this afternoon about some drafting errors in the bill that have potential significant impact and wanted to have a discussion in camera about that and consider a motion to postpone clause-by-clause today by a week.
The Chair: Does anyone wish to speak to the point that Senator McNair raised? If a decision is made to go in camera, please say “yea.” Are there any objections to proceeding in camera? No. Okay. There is none. We are agreed. We will suspend for two minutes before going in camera.
(The committee continued in camera.)