Bill C-51 was enacted earlier this year with the apparent
intention of giving the federal government more power to stop terrorism while
balancing that power with a respect for civil liberties. Since there haven’t been any terrorist acts
in Canada for years it would seem the government is doing a good job with the
powers they have already, so I don’t know why they wanted more. According to the papers the opposition
proposed more than 100 amendments to the bill, of which the Conservatives
accepted none but introduced four that they came up with themselves.
This Act allows government organizations, if they have files
on you, to share them with each other, lets the government ground people who
they suspect might be planning terrorism, without telling them,
lets the government apply to judges to impose recognizances on possible
terrorists and make them wear electronic bracelets etc, criminalizes any
communication that promotes terrorism and allows the government to confiscate
written or electronic materials that promote terrorism, allows witnesses to give evidence against
suspected terrorists without being identified or cross examined, allows the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service to do James Bond type stuff (rather than
being a mere intelligence agency), while letting them get warrants to set
aside the Canadian Constitution (temporarily), allows the government to appeal any
decision at any stage made by a judge in an immigration case if they don’t like
the decision, while the right of the non-citizen to appeal is still restricted
to matters of general importance, and allows the government to present
information to a judge that that non-citizen is doesn't know about and so cannot
contradict or challenge. Seems
innocuous enough but in fact it’s been a controversial subject.
A couple of fair and balanced reviews of the legislation by legal experts.
Lists are fun, so here's the Federal agencies who can hand your information around.
Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Department of Finance
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Department of Health
Department of National Defence
Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Department of Transport
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
Public Health Agency of CanadaRoyal Canadian Mounted Police
A couple of fair and balanced reviews of the legislation by legal experts.
Craig Forcese and Kent Roach
Clayton Ruby and Nader R. Hasan
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/bill-c-51-legal-primerLists are fun, so here's the Federal agencies who can hand your information around.
Canada
Border Services Agency
Canada
Revenue Agency
Canadian
Armed Forces
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Canadian
Nuclear Safety Commission
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Communications
Security EstablishmentCanadian Security Intelligence Service
Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Department of Finance
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Department of Health
Department of National Defence
Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Department of Transport
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
Public Health Agency of CanadaRoyal Canadian Mounted Police