Public Safety committee  The intention there was to be as specific as possible, because at the time, we were specifying a level further, which was at the school board level. That is now incorporated in a secondary definition. It's a bit technical and complicated, but in attempting to assert a very broad scope for that provision, which included school board elections, the intention was to specify all levels and orders of government down to school boards.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the question. In our view, given that the registry creates criminal offences, we cannot rule out a circumstance in which proposed subsection 20.4(4) of the SOIA would overlap with a set of circumstances that would give rise to offences under the registry proposal.

Public Safety committee  Yes, it is.

Public Safety committee  Thank you, Chair. I think the best way to answer this question is to indicate that where the proposed definitions use the term “includes”, the examples that follow are intended to be examples of circumstances where the offence applies, but the intention is to indicate a non-exhaustive list of examples.

Public Safety committee  It is true that there is a definition within proposed subsection 20.4(4) of the Security of Information Act that is similar to the one at clause 113 of the bill. The effect of the amendment would be that it would change the definition in one place in the bill and not change it in the other place.

Public Safety committee  It's difficult to predict definitively, but there is the possibility that a judge might determine subsequently that this was done intentionally and that a different interpretation should be applied to the two different definitions provided to the same term.

Public Safety committee  I didn't intend to cut anyone off, Chair. The concern is that in a subsequent interpretation of the term, a court or the lawyers involved won't have time to consult this record, which would show that the intention is to create a non-exhaustive list in both places in the act that captures leadership contests and nomination contests.

Public Safety committee  The intent in the offence provision and the registry offence provision is the same, which is to create a non-exhaustive list that captures nomination and leadership contests, as well as other internal mechanisms and procedures within the democratic aspects of a political party.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. It is correct that most Criminal Code offences—and the sabotage offence appears in the Criminal Code—are prosecuted by provincial prosecution services. Sabotage in its current form in the Criminal Code is prosecuted currently by provincial prosecution services. The effect of this amendment would limit the consent for the commencement of a prosecution to the Attorney General of Canada, but does not specify that the ensuing prosecution would be conducted by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

Public Safety committee  There are some exceptions. For example, the terrorism provisions of the Criminal Code can be prosecuted by the federal prosecution service and in general are usually prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

Public Safety committee  The provisions that require that a mandatory consecutive sentence be imposed for the new Security of Information Act offences mirror similar provisions in the terrorism offence regime in the Criminal Code and the organized crime regime in the Criminal Code that similarly require the imposition of consecutive sentences for convictions of those offences.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for that question. The definitions that are used in SOIA are with the context of SOIA and the offence itself in mind and were clearly inspired, as you note, by other provisions and other categories of public office holders, so the offence of interference with political processes or governance involves a category of public office holder that I agree is quite extensive.

Public Safety committee  Just briefly, if the form of the discrimination rises to intimidation, threats, violence or coercive behaviour that doesn't give the victim a choice in the matter, then certainly, the new and newly amended offences in section 20 and proposed sections 20.1 and 20.2 could apply to those circumstances.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the question. I'm speaking on behalf of the Department of Justice, but I can address the question. Certainly, we have benefited from having seen the experiences of the Australian legislation, and the bill reflects efforts to learn from the experiences of Australia.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the question. The requirement of the Attorney General's consent already exists in the SOIA, so for the new offences that would be integrated into the SOIA, that requirement would continue to apply. In general, the requirement for the Attorney General's consent applies to ensure that there is the proper assessment of the key elements of whether there's a reasonable prospect of conviction and if there's a public interest in proceeding with a prosecution, and that assessment is taken at an appropriate level, given the context of the interests at stake.