For the griff
“What does democracy look like?” screamed
Sioban Vipond, the secretary for the Alberta Federation of Labour, as
she raised a fist to the sky.
“This is what democracy looks like!” the crowd screamed back.
Several hundred people turned out for the Edmonton protest starting at Canada Place on March 14, part of a nationwide
rally against Bill C-51, the Anti-Terrorism Act. The national day of
action drew out thousands of people across Canada in 46 cities and was
carried out peacefully.
Bill C-51 is the Harper government’s
response to recent attacks on military personnel and Parliament by
criminals influenced by ISIS propaganda videos. Since these two
incidents, the Harper government said the new powers granted to the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) are necessary.
However, opponents of the bill — which
include Amnesty International, Federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel
Therrien, B.C. Premier Christy Clark, former Prime Ministers Joe Clark,
Jean Chretien, Paul Martin and John Turner, the Mohawk Council of
Kahnawà:ke, five former Supreme Court justices, over 100 law professors,
as well as Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Opposition Leader
Thomas Mulcair of the NDP — have complained the bill does not provide
Canadians with enough oversight of the new powers CSIS would wield, and
are greatly concerned by the vague definition of what “terrorism” is in
the bill. Protesters are concerned that the provisions would be used to
target activists. They want the bill overhauled and properly debated – a
request that the Harper government has been resistant to.
“This bill is truly a threat,” explained
Craig Scott, the NDP critic for Democratic Reform, who spoke at the
Edmonton rally. “Not just to constitutional rights, not just to the rule
of law, but also to our very democracy because you have to remember
that this bill is a massive deepening and expansion of the surveillance
state.”
The bill makes a large number of changes
to the workings of government departments, which
will now be able to share information with each other, including with
Revenue Canada.
“Information could be shared between 17
government departments, and this includes a long, open-ended list — it
can be added to by the cabinet at will,” Scott pointed out. “Terrorism
is only one of eight areas in which information can be shared. They have
not included in that sharing circle the review bodies of any of the
security agencies.”
Other changes include the ability of CSIS
to limit the travel of suspected terrorists. Opponents point out that
this provision already exists and that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the
Parliament shooter, only opted to attack Parliament after being denied a
passport due to concerns he was going to join ISIS.
Other major changes include the criminalization of inciting violence online, such as with a Twitter or Facebook account, and the enabling of CSIS to be more active in its investigations. Currently, CSIS is only able to operate in an intelligence-gathering capacity; it is unable to make decisions on what to do with intelligence.
Other major changes include the criminalization of inciting violence online, such as with a Twitter or Facebook account, and the enabling of CSIS to be more active in its investigations. Currently, CSIS is only able to operate in an intelligence-gathering capacity; it is unable to make decisions on what to do with intelligence.
