Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Thank you, minister, for being with us today. My question is about Afghanistan. I asked this question last week of Senator Gold, your representative in the Senate, and I was informed that you were seized with the issue of providing a solution to the current conundrum of the anti-terrorism code and its impact on the delivery of humanitarian and other aid on the ground in Afghanistan because if Canadian non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, or Canadians did that, they stand in danger of being prosecuted under the Criminal Code.

I want to remind you that the U.S. and the U.K., the two most security-conscious nations in the world, have made exemptions to their anti-terrorism code to provide for the work of NGOs.

Can you kindly tell me when — and it is the “when” that is important, not so much as the how — are you going to table a solution?

Hon. David Lametti, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada: Thank you, senator, for the question. It is an important question. It is a challenge that we have faced since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, and — I repeat — it is a matter that we are seized with. It is a complex matter and we are searching for solutions.

Obviously, I can’t get in front of the process as it’s moving forward given the way our Parliament works, but I can assure you that we are taking the matter very seriously, and that we are examining all options. I can’t say more than that.

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