Speech (House debate)

{
    "time": "2013-04-23 11:20:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Hon. Irwin Cotler",
        "fr": "L'hon. Irwin Cotler"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"3283995\" data-originallang=\"en\">Mr. Speaker, as I said, the fact that they had not been used does not mean that they may not yet be needed. In fact, it may demonstrate they were not abused. They may yet still need it.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3283996\" data-originallang=\"en\">In terms of the Supreme Court's contextual principle, we must appreciate the contextual environment in which the transnational terrorist threat operates.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3283997\" data-originallang=\"en\">I would remind the hon. member, and I suspect he knows, that if one takes a comparative perspective here, we have a situation where, in the United States, simply by designating a suspected terrorist an enemy combatant, he or she can be indefinitely detained. Detention in the United Kingdom has been extended from 6 days to 18 days. We are talking about a requirement to bring a person before judge within 24 hours. As I said, there is an inventory of safeguards at the executive level, at the legislative level, at the judicial level and through other commissioners, such as the Privacy Commissioner and the like.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3283998\" data-originallang=\"en\">While this is an imperfect approach, nonetheless it was something that was supported after there was review of these provisions by parliamentary committees in the House and in the Senate. It is not as if we did not have any review or appreciation of these principles as well.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3283999\" data-originallang=\"en\">I do agree that we need to do more on these matter. For example, members in the House need to have more information in the matter of intelligence gathering, which my colleague from <a data-HoCid=\"170322\" href=\"/politicians/francis-scarpaleggia/\" title=\"Francis Scarpaleggia\">Lac-Saint-Louis</a> recommended. Our government re-established a parliamentary committee to provide oversight with respect to intelligence gathering, and here, too, to invoke more principles of transparency in that regard.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"3283995\" data-originallang=\"en\">Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, comme je l'ai dit, ce n'est pas parce qu'on n'a pas eu recours \u00e0 ces dispositions jusqu'\u00e0 maintenant qu'elles ne seront pas utilis\u00e9es un jour. Au contraire, il faut peut-\u00eatre comprendre qu'on n'en a pas fait un usage abusif. Elles pourraient encore s'av\u00e9rer utiles.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3283996\" data-originallang=\"en\">Il faut tenir compte du principe contextuel \u00e9nonc\u00e9 par la Cour supr\u00eame, c'est-\u00e0-dire du contexte dans lequel s'inscrit la menace terroriste transnationale.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3283997\" data-originallang=\"en\">Prenons une approche comparative. Le d\u00e9put\u00e9 sait probablement d\u00e9j\u00e0 que, aux \u00c9tats-Unis, les pr\u00e9sum\u00e9s terroristes peuvent \u00eatre d\u00e9tenus ind\u00e9finiment par le simple fait d'\u00eatre d\u00e9clar\u00e9s \u00ab combattants ennemis \u00bb. Au Royaume-Uni, la p\u00e9riode de d\u00e9tention est pass\u00e9e de 6 \u00e0 18 jours. Il est question ici d'une disposition selon laquelle le suspect doit compara\u00eetre devant un juge dans un d\u00e9lai de 24 heures. Comme je l'ai dit, il existe une s\u00e9rie de m\u00e9canismes de protection tant du c\u00f4t\u00e9 de l'ex\u00e9cutif que du l\u00e9gislatif et du judiciaire, sans parler de divers commissaires, notamment du commissaire \u00e0 la protection de la vie priv\u00e9e. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3283998\" data-originallang=\"en\">Cette fa\u00e7on de faire est imparfaite, mais on l'a appuy\u00e9e apr\u00e8s l'examen parlementaire de ces dispositions aux comit\u00e9s de la Chambre et du S\u00e9nat. Ce n'est pas comme si nous n'avions pas examin\u00e9 ces principes ou que nous n'en avions pas tenu compte.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3283999\" data-originallang=\"en\">Je conviens qu'il reste du travail \u00e0 faire. Il faut par exemple que les d\u00e9put\u00e9s soient mieux inform\u00e9s des activit\u00e9s de recherche de renseignements, ce qu'a recommand\u00e9 mon coll\u00e8gue de <a data-HoCid=\"170322\" href=\"/politicians/francis-scarpaleggia/\" title=\"Francis Scarpaleggia\">Lac-Saint-Louis</a>. Le gouvernement a r\u00e9tabli le comit\u00e9 parlementaire charg\u00e9 de surveiller les activit\u00e9s de recueil de renseignements et d'am\u00e9liorer, ici aussi, la transparence \u00e0 cet \u00e9gard. </p>"
    },
    "url": "/debates/2013/4/23/irwin-cotler-2/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/irwin-cotler/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/3673/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "7973324",
    "h1": {
        "en": "Government Orders",
        "fr": "Initiatives Minist\u00e9rielles"
    },
    "h2": {
        "en": "Combating Terrorism Act",
        "fr": "Loi sur la lutte contre le terrorisme"
    },
    "document_url": "/debates/2013/4/23/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2013%2F4%2F23%2F"
    }
}