Marginal note:Parliamentary privilege

• 12 (1) Despite any other law, no member or former member of the Committee may claim immunity based on parliamentary privilege in a proceeding against them in relation to a contravention of subsection 11(1) or of a provision of the Security of Information Act or in relation to any other proceeding arising from any disclosure of information that is prohibited under that subsection.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (2) A statement made by a member or former member of the Committee before either House of Parliament or a committee of the Senate, of the House of Commons or of both Houses of Parliament is admissible in evidence against them in a proceeding referred to in subsection (1).

Access to Information

Marginal note:Right of access

• 13 (1) Despite any other Act of Parliament but subject to sections 14 and 16, the Committee is entitled to have access to any information that is under the control of a department and that is related to the fulfilment of the Committee’s mandate.

• Marginal note:Protected information

  (2) The information includes information that is protected by litigation privilege or by solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries.

• Marginal note:Inconsistency or conflict

  (3) In the event of any inconsistency or conflict between subsection (1) and any provision of an Act of Parliament other than this Act, subsection (1) prevails to the extent of the inconsistency or conflict.

Marginal note:Exceptions

14 The Committee is not entitled to have access to any of the following information :

• (a) a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, as defined in subsection 39(2) of the Canada Evidence Act;

• (b) information the disclosure of which is described in subsection 11(1) of the Witness Protection Program Act;

• (c) the identity of a person who was, is or is intended to be, has been approached to be, or has offered or agreed to be, a confidential source of information, intelligence or assistance to the Government of Canada, or the government of a province or of any state allied with Canada, or information from which the person’s identity could be inferred;

• (d) information relating directly to an ongoing investigation carried out by a law enforcement agency that may lead to a prosecution.

Marginal note:Request for information

• 15 (1) If the Committee is entitled to have access to information that is under the control of a department, the Committee may make a request to the appropriate Minister for that department that the information be provided to the Committee.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) If the Committee requests information that is in respect of an identifiable person or entity, that has been received or collected by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and that has been disclosed to a department under subsection 55(3), 55.1(1), 65(1), 65.01(1) or 65.02(1) of that Act, the Committee may make the request only to the appropriate Minister for that department.

• Marginal note:Department — parent Crown corporation

  (2.1) If the requested information is under the control of a department that is a parent Crown corporation, the department must, at the request of the appropriate Minister, provide the information to that Minister.

• Marginal note:Compliance

  (2.2) Compliance by a department with subsection (2.1) is deemed to be in the best interests of the department.

• Marginal note:Provision of information

  (3) After the appropriate Minister receives the request, he or she must provide or cause to be provided to the Committee, in a timely manner, the requested information to which it is entitled to have access.

• Marginal note:Information provided orally

  (4) The appropriate Minister or officials of the department may appear before the Committee to provide the information orally.

Marginal note:Refusal of information

• 16 (1) The appropriate Minister for a department may refuse to provide information to which the Committee would, but for this section, otherwise be entitled to have access and that is under the control of that department, but only if he or she is of the opinion that

  • (a) the information constitutes special operational information, as defined in subsection 8(1) of the Security of Information Act; and

  • (b) provision of the information would be injurious to national security.

• Marginal note:Reasons

  (2) If the appropriate Minister refuses to provide information under subsection (1), he or she must inform the Committee of his or her decision and the reasons for the decision.

• Marginal note:Review bodies informed of decision

  (3) If the appropriate Minister makes the decision in respect of any of the following information, he or she must provide the decision and reasons to,

  • (a) in the case of information under the control of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;

  • (b) in the case of information under the control of the Communications Security Establishment, the Commissioner of the Communications Security Establishment; and

  • (c) in the case of information under the control of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Security Intelligence Review Committee.

Procedure

Marginal note:Meetings — call of Chair

17 The Committee is to meet at the call of the Chair.

Marginal note:Meetings held in private

18 Meetings of the Committee are to be held in private if any information that a department is taking measures to protect is likely to be disclosed during the course of the meeting or if the Chair considers it to be otherwise necessary.

Marginal note:Voting

19 The Chair may vote at meetings of the Committee only in the case of a tie.

Marginal note:Procedure

20 Subject to the provisions of this Act and the regulations, the Committee may determine the procedure to be followed in the exercise of any of its powers or the performance of any of its duties or functions, including in respect of the appearance of persons before the Committee.

Reports

Marginal note:Annual report

• 21 (1) Each year the Committee must submit to the Prime Minister a report of the reviews it conducted during the preceding year. The report must contain

  • (a) the Committee’s findings;

  • (b) its recommendations, if any;

  • (c) any summary referred to in subsection (3); and

  • (d) the number of times in the preceding year that an appropriate Minister

    • (i) determined that a review referred to in paragraph 8(1)(b) would be injurious to national security, and

    • (ii) decided to refuse to provide information under subsection 16(1).

• Marginal note:Special report

  (2) If, in the Committee’s opinion, a special report on any matter related to its mandate is necessary, it may, at any time, submit such a report to the Prime Minister and the minister concerned.

• Marginal note:Summary of special report

  (3) The Committee may prepare a summary of a special report and, on submitting the report, must notify the Prime Minister of its intention to do so.

• Marginal note:Special report not to be tabled

  (4) Subsection (5) does not apply to a special report that is the subject of a notification under subsection (3) and that report is not to be laid before either House of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Direction to submit revised report

  (5) If, after consulting the Chair of the Committee, the Prime Minister is of the opinion that information in an annual or special report is information the disclosure of which would be injurious to national security, national defence or international relations or is information that is protected by litigation privilege or by solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries, the Prime Minister may direct the Committee to submit to the Prime Minister a revised version of the annual or special report that does not contain that information.

• Marginal note:Revised version of report

  (5.1) If the Committee is directed by the Prime Minister to submit a revised version, the revised version must be clearly identified as a revised version and must indicate the extent of, and the reasons for, the revisions.

• Marginal note:Tabling

  (6) Subject to subsection (4), the Prime Minister must cause to be laid before each House of Parliament, on any of the first 30 days on which that House is sitting after a report is submitted under subsection (1) or (2), a copy of the report or, if the Committee was directed to submit a revised version, a copy of the revised version.

• Marginal note:Referral

  (7) After it is tabled, the annual or special report stands referred to

  • (a) the Standing Committee on National Security and Defence of the Senate or, if there is not a Standing Committee on National Security and Defence, the appropriate committee of the Senate, as determined by its rules; and

  • (b) the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security of the House of Commons or, if there is not a Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, the appropriate committee of the House of Commons, as determined by its rules.