This House of Commons committee meeting was held to conduct clause-by-clause study of Bill C-22, an act respecting lawful access. Appearing as witnesses were Normand Wong and Kimberly Gibner from the Department of Justice, Richard Burchill and Aaron Gilkes from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Shannon Hiegel and Richard Bilodeau from the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Ramzi Nashef from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Normand Wong argued that an NDP amendment to strike language permitting access to data “available to” a device would significantly hinder police investigations, as the current power has been used routinely since 1997 and is critical for accessing cloud-stored evidence in the internet age. He noted that the amendment would make police work harder, contrary to the bill’s objective.
Richard Burchill and Aaron Gilkes provided operational context, explaining that the “available to” language is essential because much data is stored remotely, and without it, suspects could delete incriminating evidence from the cloud before police could obtain a new warrant. Gilkes gave examples of how thumbnails on a device may link to cloud content, and how pseudonyms are often used by criminals to avoid detection, making them a necessary identifier in investigations.
Kimberly Gibner clarified that the subscriber information production order is a judicially authorized tool for basic information like name and address, and that narrowing its scope to only telecommunications service providers would force police to use a general production order with a higher evidentiary threshold. She disagreed with the Bloc Québécois amendment, arguing it would weaken privacy by pushing police toward broader warrants.
Shannon Hiegel noted that many people use pseudonyms online, and that removing the term from the definition could hinder investigations. Richard Bilodeau emphasized that technology evolves quickly, and a narrow, exclusive list of identifiers would require frequent legislative updates, potentially limiting police in real-time investigations.
Ramzi Nashef stated that while CSIS respects the need for balance, Canadians would be concerned if they understood the challenges law enforcement and intelligence face in protecting national security, and that the bill aims to modernize tools responsibly.
A Bloc Québécois amendment to remove “pseudonym” and certain service information from the subscriber definition was defeated on a recorded vote of 6 nays to 5 yeas. A Conservative motion to suspend consideration of a clause until the Privacy Commissioner could attend was ruled non-debatable and dilatory, and a subsequent request for unanimous consent to invite the commissioner was denied. A Conservative subamendment to delete the word “including” from proposed paragraphs in the subscriber definition was moved but not voted on before the transcript ended.
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