The head of the RCMP says Canada's controversial new anti-terrorism laws have been "very useful."
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson said the part of the legislation — known best as Bill C-51— that lowered the threshold for obtaining peace bonds on suspected terrorists has been "relied upon in several instances."
"It's been very useful," Paulson told the Senate committee on National Security and Defence on Monday, adding that he originally argued in favour of those changes.
C-51, introduced by the Conservative government last year, changed the law so that police only needed evidence someone "may" — as opposed to "will" — carry out a terrorism offence to arrest them.
A judge may then issue a terrorism peace bond, which restricts the person's activities through things like travel bans and computer monitoring.
Mike Cabana, deputy commissioner of federal policing, said the RCMP has "a number of those in place."
Last month, the RCMP arrested two men using the new terrorism peace bond provisions as they returned from Turkey, the National Post reported.
Cabana also told the committee the number of Canadian travellers deemed "high-risk" is still about 180, while the number of radicalized Canadians who've returned to the country is still about 63. He said those figures are constantly changing, though.
The new Liberal government has said it will "repeal the problematic elements of Bill C-51" to better protect individual rights, but has yet to launch promised public consultations.