Senator Jaffer: Senator Gold, as a person of African descent and a Muslim, extra police powers always really worry me. I have first-hand experience of it. In 2001, I was in the chamber and we passed the Anti-terrorism Act. My community is still suffering from the effects of what we passed in 2001.

What I want to know, has anybody thought of how to reach out to African-Canadians, to Indigenous people, to people of colour so that they are not policed more than others under these acts. I know that many of them were not directly involved, but I can tell you that I have heard from many people in the community that these will be more powers that can be used against them.

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Have you had any discussions with any ministers or the Prime Minister about this? Thank you.

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Leader, first of all, I want to thank you for your very comprehensive speech. I know many of us will read it a number of times. Thank you also for answering all our questions.

Senator Gold, this is a question very different from all the questions you have been asked. We have spent a lot of time talking about the current state of Canada. We have talked about protests, blockades, trade disruptions. I’m sure everyone in the chamber would agree that the current state of affairs is very troubling.

Leader, while we work to discuss where we are and where we need to go, I think we also need to — especially this inquiry and find further ways to look at the root causes of what got us here. In the public inquiry and even earlier, you said that the inquiry itself will be a post-mortem.

So my question to you: Will this inquiry not only look at why the act was invoked, but also look at what led to this situation? Specifically, will the inquiry look into how the root issues, which underpin the mass occupations we have seen across Canada, contributed to the creation of the situation? Thank you, leader.