Moved:

That the Senate do not insist on its amendments 1 and 2 to Bill C-59, An Act respecting national security matters, to which the House of Commons has disagreed; and

That a message be sent to the House of Commons to acquaint that house accordingly.

He said: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to the message concerning Bill C-59, An Act respecting national security matters. I would like to thank the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence for their thorough review of this legislation and the amendments brought forward. I also want to acknowledge the leadership of Senator Gold, the bill’s sponsor, who helped navigate this complex bill through the Senate.

In its consideration of the message received from this chamber, the government has agreed to accept two of our amendments while respectfully declining two others. I will highlight these amendments briefly, but I would like to reference the work of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence on this bill.

The committee made a total of 10 observations, which the government has committed to carefully reviewing as it moves forward with important changes to Canada’s national security regime. In particular, one of the committee’s observations highlighted that a Senate-led study should be undertaken on the unique challenges surrounding terrorism and other national security prosecutions, including converting intelligence to evidence.

Minister Goodale referenced this observation in his speech in the other place on June 7. He said:

I especially like the idea of the Senate undertaking a study it is proposing on converting intelligence to evidence in a court of law. This is a point that has bedeviled policy-makers for years, as well as Crown prosecutors and security and intelligence operators, and it is a topic that could benefit from detailed Senate examination.

A Senate amendment to require a parliamentary review three years after receiving Royal Assent, rather than the original five, and what must be included as part of the comprehensive review in clause 168, has been agreed to by the government. The government has also accepted an amendment made by the Senate in which a blank schedule was added in relation to Part 1.1 of Bill C-59, which enacts the avoiding complicity in mistreatment of foreign entities act. Adding this schedule corrects an important technical issue by allowing the Governor-in-Council to add departments or agencies in the future that may have to comply with the act.

The government respectfully declined a Senate amendment that sought to broaden the terrorism counselling provisions within the Criminal Code. The government is of the view that the amendment could have unintended consequences by creating inconsistencies in criminal law and that the text is inconsistent with the proposed counselling offence.

The offence is defined as counselling the commission of a terrorism offence where a specific terrorism offence is not identified and whether or not the offence is committed by the person who is counselled. The first paragraph of the amendment is consistent with this offence since it uses the term “terrorist offence.”

However, the remaining three paragraphs are inconsistent both with the proposed offence and the first paragraph of the amendment because they refer to “terrorist activity.” In fact, “terrorist activity” is narrower in scope than “terrorism offence” under the Criminal Code. As an example, leaving Canada to join a terrorist organization is a terrorist offence. It is not, however, captured in the Criminal Code’s definition of terrorist activity.

The result is an inconsistency within the amendment itself, and between the amendment and the proposed counselling offence.

Finally, the government respectfully declined an amendment which could give the intelligence commissioner the authority to direct the minister as to how he or she could exercise their authorities. This would be outside the scope of his or her role as it could shift responsibility and accountability away from the minister and on to the intelligence commissioner.

Ultimately, it could expand the remit of the intelligence commissioner in a way that was not originally intended in Bill C-59. The role of the proposed commissioner would be to review whether the conclusions of the minister in issuing a foreign intelligence authorization are reasonable. The intelligence commissioner would have a role to play in determining whether that standard has been met.

It is important to note that Bill C-59 creates a requirement to provide the commissioner with all of the information that was before the minister while allowing the commissioner to seek clarifications in order to fulfill his or her reviewing role, as long as these clarifications do not change or add new information to the record. Ultimately, the intent of the legislation is to ensure that the intelligence commissioner is empowered to do his or her job effectively, while, at the same time, preserving ministerial accountability.

Honourable senators, many of you in this chamber have heard from the representatives of No Fly List Kids, whose advocacy has been important in raising awareness of a redress system, something that Bill C-59 will implement through its legislative framework. I think it is only fitting that their hard work be recognized in this chamber as we get closer to making these important changes a reality. I know they are listening today.

The Senate has done its due diligence in examining a comprehensive piece of legislation that will put Canada in line with many of its international allies and ensure that our national security agencies have the tools they desperately need.

I would ask that we accept the message from the House of Commons so that this bill can achieve Royal Assent as soon as possible.

Thank you.