Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
It seems to me that everybody was nodding, so I take that as an affirmative. I want to thank committee members for allowing me to do that.
I apologize that I wasn't here when this amendment came up. I had run into the House to deal with yet another guillotine motion on Bill C-26. I wanted to get my comments on the record in the House with respect to that.
I'm back here now, and I think the guillotine is soon coming down on this one as well.
I should first say that the premise of this amendment is actually something the Canadian Chamber of Commerce brought to my attention. They raised this issue with regard to the timeline for responding to production orders. This amendment that I tabled would restore the 30-calendar-day default, as is generally the case with the Criminal Code standard.
I would welcome and support the amendment that has been brought forward by Mr. Mantle. By the way, the Chamber of Commerce itself also noted that it would welcome shorter periods. It would welcome them with written judicial reasons in exigent circumstances. That is the premise behind the amendment here. It's to allow for that flexibility in that way.
I heard officials comment that if they can't meet it in those 30 days, then the default would be that they just won't meet the order. I would hope that this is not the case. I would hope that people would work really hard to meet the order, because the Criminal Code standard is 30 days and people work toward achieving that. In this instance, bringing that forward is an important benchmark, if you will.
Part of the problem with this bill and the approach that's being taken is that there's not really good collaboration about what needs to be done and how to bring the best bill forward. These are substantive changes to Canadian culture that would impact privacy and civil liberties. I get the importance of doing it so that we can facilitate the work of law enforcement, CSIS and the people who keep us safe. I get all of that. As a target of foreign interference, I get it. Please, I get it. I want to make sure we get it right, but not at this sort of breakneck speed of trying to push it through.
When I say breakneck speed, I'm talking about not engaging in a process that would actually allow for fulsome engagement, input and meaningful consideration. I know that the government has gotten itself a majority, and it is going to ram it through. I don't think that's the best way to make law.
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
