Members of dormant national security roundtable seeking answers

A group of Canadians whoadvisethe federal government on national security issues are in the dark about thefuture of a 16-member roundtable they were appointed to.

Members of the Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security are supposed to meet in-camera at least twice a year, yet the group hasn'tmet since October 2014.

The roundtable was set up in 2005 to actas a sounding board for cabinet ministers and other high-ranking federal executives on how security matters and government policiesaffect differentethnic communities. Over the years, it has covered topics such as counteringviolent extremism, migration and cyber-security.

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"I feel I'm in limbo," said Farzana Hassan, a newspaper columnist and past-president of the Canadian Muslim Congress who was appointed to the roundtable in June2015.

"It seemed like a very good fit and I jumped on the idea and I accepted the appointment, but I have not heard anything," she told CBC News.

This past spring,Hassanand several other members contacted by CBCreceived a letter informing them thatthe government is re-thinking the roundtable's activities and composition.

"I get the sense that they would want us to resign because we were appointed by the previous government and, you know, this government's policies and outlines on certain issues is very different from the previous government," said Hassan.

"I feel I can do more. I can share my ideas, but I have not been given the opportunity to do so," she said.

Chair sees lack of communication

Myrna Lashley, a psychologist,was appointed to the roundtable in 2005 and has been the group's chairperson since 2007. But after receiving the letter in March, Lashleysuspects her involvement has come to an end.

"Effectively when you get that letter, you have been told 'thank you,'" Lashley said.

In the meantime, Lashleyis concerned the federal government is not communicating as effectively on national security issues with Canada's ethnically diverse communities, such as Syrian refugees.

In the past, Lashleysays the group met withand advised ministers of public safety and justice as well as senior executives from the RCMP, CSIS and Canada Border Services Agency on all sorts of issues that could or would affect an array ofcultural groups.

"We could give them an idea of how different communities might react to something so that they could formulate it in a way that would be acceptable to all Canadians," said Lashley.

Lashley points to the creation of the special advocate program, whichprovided independent, top-secret, security-cleared lawyers to representpeople subject to a security certificate or immigration proceedings.

"We were the ones that said 'let's try a special advocate,' that came from us,"Lashleysaid.

The Department of Public Safety refused CBC's request for an interview. But in an email, a spokesperson said, "While the government is currently reviewing the membership of the table, it looks forward to resuming CCRS meetings in the near future."