Liberals aim to balance security with rights

Canadians will be consulted on changes to controversial Bill C-51 drafted in 2014

“If the messages indicate that something more needs to be done, obviously we would try to pursue that.” RALPH GOODALE PUBLIC SAFETY MINISTER

OTTAWA— The Liberal government is open to an expansive revamp of national security legislation, not just a handful of promised changes to the controversial anti-terrorism bill known as C-51, says Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

The government will allow Canadians to have their say before deciding what changes to make, Goodale told The Canadian Press on Saturday.

“If the consultation leads to a broader set of action items, obviously we would be guided by what that consultation tells us,” he said. “The subject matter is large, it’s complex, the solutions aren’t particularly easy to achieve. But our whole point in having consultations is to listen to what we hear. And if the messages indicate that something more needs to be done, obviously we would try to pursue that.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has asked Goodale to work with Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to repeal the “problematic elements” of Bill C-51 and introduce new legislation that strengthens accountability with respect to national security while better balancing collective security with rights and freedoms.

The government has pledged to ensure all Canadian Security Intelligence Service warrants respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That would roll back new provisions allowing CSIS to disrupt terrorist plots through tactics that breach the charter as long as a judge approves.

It has also committed to creating a special parliamentary committee to keep an eye on security operations.

Organizations including Amnesty International Canada and the Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group have urged the Liberals to go further, by implementing neglected 2006 recommendations on a comprehensive security review from the inquiry into the overseas torture of Maher Arar.

Others have called for a rethinking of tools needed to counter jihadistinspired extremism, as well as stronger measures to protect privacy.

Goodale said the previous government failed to consult the public properly when it ushered in C-51 after attacks that killed soldiers in StJean-sur-Richelieu, Que., and Ottawa just days apart in October 2014. “There was a moment there when collaboration of a rare and extraordinary kind was possible. The government chose to go a different way. They chose to proceed unilaterally without that kind of consultation or engagement. And the end result produced a flawed piece of legislation.”

Ottawa hasn’t decided whether to have a standing committee carry out the review or to create a special committee to do the job, he said.

The Liberals may also engage in public consultations through “tools and techniques that take us beyond the parliamentary precinct.”

“The point here is that we genuinely want to hear from Canadians,” Goodale said. “They didn’t have the opportunity before, we want to give them the opportunity now, to make sure that, in the resetting of the national security framework, we get it right.”