I think, principally, that the bill maintains quite heavy involvement of the Federal Court in anything being proposed. This is not to be trite, but a friend of mine was reading the bill and said it seemed like an employment opportunity for the Federal Court. I mean, the Federal Court is mentioned a lot in this bill.
If any of you were to ask me if I thought anything could be done to the bill to improve it, I would say to simplify it a bit. However, I understand there are a whole bunch of checks and balances written into it.
Fundamentally, the requirement for CSIS to obtain ministerial authority for the use of datasets and a whole variety of other things, both from the minister and as it goes to the court, will ensure they stay squarely within the law. The authority being given to CSIS to speak more broadly with civil society and the private sector will simply make these issues more understandable to everybody.
One thing that struck me since I've left government is how little people understand about these issues. Therefore, CSIS going out there and talking to the private sector and civil society, and getting feedback in the other direction, broadly speaking, will simply contribute to an environment where greater transparency and accountability will be easier.
I'm not suggesting by this that, all of a sudden, everybody will be cleared to the top-secret level and it will all go away. However, to my mind, there's a pretty careful balancing in the act. Again, if I had my druthers, I'd simplify it a bit, but I understand the checks and balances built into it.