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.

(1320)

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

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. Respectfully, that’s not exactly what I said. I did not say — and would not say and could not say specifically — what CSIS might have disclosed. I was referring to a CSIS annual report, and there have been many of them that pointed out a long period of ignoring the rise of far-right extremism in Canada. CSIS — and indeed the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, or NSICOP, in its report, also, if I recall — signalled that. Based upon information to which, frankly, I’m not privy, even as a member of the Privy Council, there has been such a rise and threat posed by far-right extremist groups such as to re-engage CSIS’s focus and place them at the top of the list with which CSIS is concerned — more so than other forms of terrorism or extremism that have dominated the public mind, and in some cases tragically in terms of actual acts.

That’s what I was saying, senator. It is a matter of public record that our security services have identified far-right extremism. We have evidence of foreign funding as well. CSIS has made the link publicly between the agenda of these extremist groups and the COVID-19 fatigue that has allowed them to mobilize that to other ends.