Mr. Speaker, following the letter that was sent to your office dated yesterday and pursuant to Standing Order 52, I am requesting that an emergency debate on the Communications Security Establishment Canada's metadata collection program be held as soon as possible.

An emergency debate is needed so that parliamentarians can take an in-depth look at the extent to which Canadians' personal information, metadata and other information are collected by the police, law enforcement agencies and national security agencies. This debate is also needed so that we can look at measures that will lead to appropriate parliamentary oversight and ways to balance public and national security interests with Canadians' privacy rights.

On Monday, it was announced that the Communications Security Establishment Canada was potentially collecting metadata on Canadians. Since then, Canadians have been very concerned. They want to ensure that a parliamentary oversight system is in place.

We know that, right now, just one judge, with the help of a small team, is responsible for examining this office's operations. He has testified in committee only three times since he has been in office. I think it is our duty to reassure Canadians by holding a debate here.

I can also say that, since that announcement was made, there have been online campaigns and petitions signed by tens of thousands of Canadians. They are very concerned about this news and about the possibility that their privacy is being violated. Canadians are not alone in this campaign. They have been joined by Amnesty International, Alternative Québec, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Council of Canadians and 10 other civil society groups. OpenMedia is also playing an important role in this situation. Thank you for taking the time to carefully consider my request.

I hope that we can work together as parliamentarians to respond to Canadians' questions in this regard.

Charmaine Borg

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