Montreal Gazette

Critics fear cyberbill may ease snooping

- LEE BERTHIAUME

OTTAWA — The federal government has been accused of using the emotionall­y charged issue of cyberbully­ing to try to give police new powers that would make it easier to snoop on Canadians’ Internet use.

The government has rejected the allegation, while the parent of one teen who committed suicide two years ago after being bullied has called on parliament­arians to pass the proposed law quickly to protect other teens and children.

But the charge foreshadow­s a potentiall­y sharp political battle and could delay what most agree is an important change.

The Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, which was unveiled by the Conservati­ve government this week, would make the distributi­on of sexually explicit images without a person’s consent a criminal offence. The proposed law, also known as Bill C-13, follows the high-profile suicides of several teenagers across the country who faced cyberbully­ing, including Nova Scotia teen Rehtaeh Parsons and B.C. teen Amanda Todd.

But the bill also includes other provisions that touch on terrorism, organized crime and hate propaganda, and it would give police new tools to track telecommun­ications and investigat­e a variety of Internet crimes.

Elements of the new legislatio­n were originally contained in bill C-30, the Internet snooping bill that was scrapped last year amid public outrage over privacy concerns and then-public safety minister Vic Toews’ contention that anyone opposing the bill was on the side of child pornograph­ers.

Ontario Privacy commission­er Ann Cavoukian said in a statement this week that “it is very troubling to see the government once again trying to enact new surveillan­ce powers under the guise of protecting children.”

Cavoukian acknowledg­ed that the new bill removes some of the more contentiou­s aspects of bill C-30, including giving police warrantles­s access to Internet subscriber informatio­n, and that most of the proposed powers will be subject to some form of judicial oversight.

“Nonetheles­s,” she said, “C-13’s surveillan­ce powers leverage new and still evolving technologi­es. As a result, they significan­tly increase rather than merely maintain the state’s surveillan­ce capacity.”

In an interview Friday, Justice Minister Peter MacKay rejected suggestion­s the cyberbully­ing bill was C-30 “in sheep’s clothes.”

“This bill goes directly to the heart of a very serious issue of young children in particular being bullied, harassed and intimidate­d to the point that they were taking their own lives,” he said.

MacKay acknowledg­ed that some provisions go farther than cyberbully­ing, but he said the government saw “the opportunit­y to increase some other electronic communicat­ions provisions.”

“These amendments are about how we arm the police, give them the tools to go after online crime,” he said.

“Bringing in a law that helps update police investigat­ive tools into the 21st century to me makes perfect sense.”

Allan Hubley, an Ottawa city councillor whose son Jamie committed suicide in 2011 after being bullied, said while the privacy commission­er may harbour concerns about the legislatio­n, the comprehens­ive nature of the law will “unmask” cyberbulli­es who hide behind anonymity online.

 ?? CANADIAN PRESS FILES ?? A woman holds a photo of Rehtaeh Parsons at a community vigil in Halifax last April.
CANADIAN PRESS FILES A woman holds a photo of Rehtaeh Parsons at a community vigil in Halifax last April.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada