The Standard (St. Catharines)

Canadians rally against Bill C-51

Controvers­ial anti-terror bill now before Senate

- DANI-ELLE DUBE and SHAWN JEFFORDS Postmedia Network danielle.dube@sunmedia.ca

OTTAWA and TORONTO — Thousands of protesters across Canada marched against the Conservati­ves’ anti-terror bill, aimed at beefing up police and security agencies powers.

Protests were held in about 20 cities Saturday, including Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal.

Samer Mansour, from Toronto who was protesting in downtown Ottawa, said he feels it’s important to protect his rights and the rights of fellow Canadians.

“This bill is mass surveillan­ce and it’s not necessary, so why have it?” said Mansour.

“There’s not enough oversight to the bill and there have been a lot of experts, including Amnesty Internatio­nal, who have opposed this bill. These oversights need to be addressed as well as the criticisms of it.”

Organizers on the Toronto Committee To Stop Bill C- 51 promised that if the Senate doesn’t halt the legislatio­n as it makes its way through Parliament, it will be an election issue this fall.

Co-organizer Brittany Smith said with the bill now before the senate, there is still time to stop it from becoming law.

“We’re here to try to put pressure on the senators to truly be that house of sober second thought and vote down this bill,” Smith said. “Send it back to (the House of Commons) and with an election around the corner hopefully it can die ... there.”

Smith called the bill “intrusive, excessive and regressive.”

“A democracy dies when your government becomes obsessed with securing power and control, spying on Canadians, stripping away our rights, and turning the intelligen­ce services into a secret police state.”

Bill C-51 is a five-part bill that addresses threats and matters of national security in Canada.

The contentiou­s bill would allow government agencies to disclose personal informatio­n to other Canadian government insti- tutions in Canada,

NDP MP Andrew Cash, at the protest in Toronto, said the bill would “back date” police actions that occurred in Toronto during the G20 protests in June 2010 where the largest mass arrests in Cana- dian history took place.

“There are people out there, politician­s, who will tell you we have to make a decision between our security and our civil rights, our civil liberties,” Cash said. “That is what you call a false choice and we will not accept (it).”

It also amends areas of the Immigratio­n and Refugee Protection Act and allows the Canadian Security Intelligen­ce Service (CSIS) to take measures both inside and outside of Canada that will reduce threats to national security.

Earlier this month, the bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons with a vote of 183-96.

 ?? DANI-ELLE DUBE/ POSTMEDIA NETWORK FILES ?? Protestors rally at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa on Saturday to voice their opposition to Bill C-51, a Conservati­ve anti-terror bill now before the Senate.
DANI-ELLE DUBE/ POSTMEDIA NETWORK FILES Protestors rally at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa on Saturday to voice their opposition to Bill C-51, a Conservati­ve anti-terror bill now before the Senate.

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