Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, thank you for your thoughtful and insightful speech. I have a couple of questions.

Senator Gold, multiple reports, including one by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, have found that individuals who are racialized or Indigenous are at a much greater risk of being selected for so-called random screening and extra questioning. One study found that 79% of Muslims — or their friends and family — have experienced unfair treatment. We have heard many times our colleague Senator Jaffer being very vocal about how she is regularly pulled over for random screening.

Do you worry that border guards will misuse their authority to access our phones, which contain intimate details on every aspect of our lives? In fact, our phones have become an extension of our inner lives.

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, I like that racism is illegal, but we have to admit it exists. I speak for a community that is regularly stopped for random searches. It’s almost become a joking matter to say, “Okay, I was pulled over. This is what they wanted to know.” My question is how and does the government have a plan to prevent Bill S-7 from being used explicitly to violate the privacy of groups that are already discriminated against by border guards?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate. The Information Commissioner’s 2021-2022 Annual Report shows a 70% increase in complaints over the previous year: the highest volume of complaints since this office was created almost 40 years ago in 1983.

Commissioner Maynard stated, “A number of institutions are not meeting their legislative obligations, while some appear to consider them as optional.”

The commissioner says that the pandemic can no longer be used as an excuse for failing to live up to these obligations.

Leader, your government came to office promising openness and transparency. Instead, under your watch, access to information is now arguably the worst it has ever been. What will you do to address the crisis in the system for access to information across your government?

Senator Ataullahjan: In a report released in April, and again in an annual report last week, Commissioner Maynard made specific mention of the excessive delays for access to information requests at Library and Archives Canada, where almost 80% of responses do not comply with the timelines laid out in the legislation. The commissioner is very critical of Minister Rodriguez in her reports, saying she is not convinced the minister has an understanding of the critical situation at Library and Archives Canada. As well, the commissioner said the minister’s response to her recommendations lacked any sense of urgency and in some cases did not even address her recommendations.

Leader, the commissioner says Minister Rodriguez won’t commit to anything other than the status quo at Library and Archives Canada, which she finds wholly inadequate. How will the delays ever be resolved if the minister doesn’t even realize there is a problem?

Senator Ataullahjan: I do. Senator Gold, biases exist. I think back to the day when my mother-in-law, who happened to be one of the first female doctors of the Indian subcontinent, came to visit and, because she was in traditional clothes, one of the guards said, “Oh, dear. I wonder if she can speak English,” to which she retorted, “And how!”

An American Civil Liberties Union report showed that 96% of individuals apprehended by American border guards were identified as being of a racialized background. Three customs and border protection officials filed a lawsuit against the agency alleging they were required to profile racialized persons. As The Washington Post stated, “Driving while Brown or Black is a key reason for being stopped by the Border Patrol. . . .”

Why is our government extending greater search authorities to an organization already known to indiscriminately target racialized persons? That is my last question to you, Senator Gold.