Lawyers’ group challenges C-51 over balance of security, rights
The Canadian Bar Association is challenging the federal government on its contentious proposed anti-terror legislation, asking whether Bill C-51 is striking a proper balance between managing risk and safeguarding the privacy rights of Canadian citizens.
Eric Gottardi is the chair of the Criminal Justice Section of the association, which represents 36,000 jurists, lawyers, notaries, law teachers and students across Canada.
He told parliamentarians at a House committee for public safety on Wednesday that abuses of state power are less likely to occur when there is a distinct line between national security activities and activities that cross into operational policing.
“Bill C-51 threatens to disrupt this balance and blur the lines, by essentially giving CSIS operational powers, many of which will overlap with RCMP powers,” he said.
Tom Quiggin, an Ottawa-based terrorism expert, says the bill’s focus on disrupting organizations with terrorist ties is needed to stem the tide of radicalized Canadians going overseas to commit terrorist acts.
Bill C-51 would allow national security agencies, such as CSIS and the RCMP, to share any information “in respect of activities that undermine the security of Canada, including in respect of their detection, identification, analysis, prevention, investigation or disruption,” Quiggin said.
“We’ve had a steady stream of these guys coming out of the country since about 1979-1980, starting with Ahmed Said Khadr, and going right up to John Maguire here recently,” he said in an interview. “From a governmental point of view, from a security point of view, and from an international security point of view, how do you put a halt to this stream of kids going overseas to become suicide bombers?
“We have to start disrupting some of the recruiting networks that exist here rather than trying to catch them once they’re getting on the airplane or when they’re already over there.”
Ahmed Said Khadr was an Egyptian citizen who moved with his family to Canada in 1977. He travelled to Afghanistan in 1980 to fight against invading Soviet forces, where he reportedly met Osama bin Laden and helped found al- Qaida.
John Maguire is a Merrickville area man who travelled to Syria to fight with ISIL. He appeared in a sixminute video calling for ISIL supporters to conduct attacks against Canadians at home. It is believed he became radicalized while studying at the University of Ottawa.
Expert criticism of the bill is focused on the broad wording of what constitutes a national security threat, with many aboriginal and environmental groups worried that the law will place them within the confines of being considered terrorist organizations. Other testimony at a glance: Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress:
“This bill is reckless. Its implementation will undermine the very freedom the government claims it wants to protect. We stand with many Canadians who have concluded that the bill is more about posturing ahead of an election than it is about protecting our public safety.”
Brian Hay, chair of the Mackenzie Institute:
“Suspicion is no replacement for probable cause. Curiosity is no substitute for evidence. And permitting a judge to break a law, or to ignore the charter to uphold the law or to protect a society which is to be based on law, seems, at best, contradictory.”
Raheel Raza, Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow:
“We unfortunately are living in a post-9/11 world, and times are such that personal information needs to be shared. That’s the reality and I don’t have a problem with it. If my bank accounts, my Internet and my cellphone are being monitored for the sake of the larger security and safety of this country and if I have nothing to hide, and if 17 agencies want to check on me, I’m OK with that. Because, again, the larger picture is that of the security and safety of Canada.”