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Bill C-51 defies key rulings on security certificates, lawyers say
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Politique et terrorisme
Politics and terrorism
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Michael Geist 02/03/2015 - Last fall, Daniel Therrien, the government's newly appointed Privacy Commissioner of Canada, released the annual report on the Privacy Act, the legislation that governs how government collects, uses, and discloses personal information. The lead story from the report was the result of an audit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police practices regarding warrantless requests for telecom subscriber information. The audit had been expected to shed new light into RCMP information requests. Auditors were forced to terminate the investigation, however, when they realized that Canada's national police force simply did not compile the requested information. When asked why the information was not collected, RCMP officials  responded that its information management system was never designed to capture access requests.
While that raised serious concerns - the RCMP has since promised to study mechanisms for reporting requests with recommendations expected in April - my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) reports that documents recently obtained under the Access to Information Act reveal that the publicly released audit results significantly understated the severity of the problem. Indeed, after the draft final report was provided to the RCMP in advance for comment, several of the findings were toned down for the public release. [...] In short, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada set out to audit the RCMP in the hope of uncovering the details behind requests for subscriber information. What it encountered instead was inaccurate data and an effort to downplay the problems within the public report.
Quebec resident Alain Philippon to fight charge for not giving up phone password at airport
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Autres nouvelles - More news
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Action
Reject fear. Stop Harper's "secret police" bill C-51!
LeadNow.ca - We call on MPs to reject Stephen Harper's fear campaign and stop the bill, unless it's amended to: -- Include strong safeguards for Canadians, including a dedicated, high-level Parliamentary committee to oversee our spy agencies. -- Strip out the outrageous attacks on civil liberties, including the sweeping expansion of spy powers, criminalization of speech, and preventative arrest for those who have committed no crime. -- Clarify that the vague parts of the bill, to be certain it will only be used to target people who pose a violent threat to the lives and physical security of people Video on Facebook  National Day of Action to Stop Bill C-51 Facebook event
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ICLMG in the media
The misuses of national security:
An interview with human rights defender Roch Tassé
CCPA - Can you describe a bit the impact of this first wave of terrorism law? RT: The first wave of legislation created a paradigm of dealing with terrorism as an enemy, and the concept of the war on terror was born. Destroying a building was always a crime. But suddenly if it was motivated by religious or political motivations they call it terrorism. The massacre at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, where a crazy guy killed 14 women, was not an act of terrorism. A lone wolf who shoots one  guy on Parliament Hill is called terrorism. It's a concept that can be manipulated for political reasons, easily. And we've seen the slippery slope in government documents over the years, and in CSIS reports, not explicitly changing the definition, but naming some threats to Canada under anti-terrorism documents. For example, environmental activists are seen as people opposed to the national interests of Canada. The association between economic interest and national interests has been expressed more clearly than ever before by this government. Read more - Lire plus
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Film
The Secret Trial 5 Canada-wide tour dates announced!
The ST5 team - We are once again facing a move to place perceived security before individual freedom and, as as our film documents, these tactics have very real human consequences. A recent poll suggested that 80% of Canadians agree with Bill  C-51 despite criticism from all over the political spectrum. We aim to change that one tour stop at a time. We believe wholeheartedly that when Canadians see the story of The Secret Trial 5, they will be moved by their sense of compassion, not fear. From March 12th to 26th, 2015 in most major Canadian cities! Tous les détails
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Action
Signez la pétition pour libérer le blogueur saoudien Raif Badawi
 Amnistie internationale - Raif Badawi, prisonnier d'opinion en Arabie saoudite, risque la mort pour avoir offert un débat sur la liberté religieuse. Exigeons des autorités saoudiennes que les coups de fouet cessent immédiatement, que Raif soit libéré sans condition, et qu'il soit réuni avec sa famille réfugiée au Canada. Exigeons de cet État qu'il respecte ses obligations en matière de droits humains et qu'il abolisse la flagellation. English petition
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Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement les positions de la CSILC - The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG
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The News Digest is ICLMG's weekly publication of news articles, events, calls to action and much more regarding national security, anti-terrorism, and civil liberties. The ICLMG is a national coalition of thirty-eight Canadian civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. +++
La revue de l'actualité est notre publication hebdomadaire de nouvelles, d'évènements, d'appels à l'action, et beaucoup plus, entourant la sécurité nationale, la lutte au terrorisme, et les libertés civiles. La CSILC est une coalition nationale de 38 organisations de la société civile canadienne qui a été créée suite aux attentats terroristes de septembre 2001 aux États-Unis.
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government would only be required to disclose material that's "relevant to grounds of inadmissibility stated in the [security] certificate." That contradicts key Supreme Court rulings on what the Crown must provide to the special advocates of people being held on the controversial certificates, say lawyers who have acted as special advocates. "That [change] gives CSIS the power to decide what part of the file is going to be disclosed, and what part of the file is not going to be disclosed," says immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman. "It will significantly alter the balance and the fairness of the procedure, a balance the Supreme Court has been very careful to craft."
sweeping scope and great importance of this bill, we believe that circumventing the ability of MPs to dissect the bill, and their responsibility to convey their concerns to Canadians at large... is a troubling undermining of our parliamentary democracy's capacity to hold majority governments accountable. "It is sadly ironic that democratic debate is being curtailed on a bill that vastly expands the scope of covert state activity when that activity will be subject to poor or even non-existent democratic oversight or review." The letter lays out five primary concerns and a number of secondary concerns, calling the bill "a dangerous piece of legislation."
protection des Canadiens et le respect de certains droits fondamentaux. Dire que c'est peu est un euphémisme.
Research poll (January 24-26), 34 per cent were concerned "about the possibility that Canadian security agencies will be given too much power" in the name of fighting ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Another 30 per cent were "somewhat concerned." [...] As a ballot box question, terrorism ranks far behind the pocketbook issues of jobs, health care and retirement incomes. In a Pollara survey conducted November 3-5, 26 per cent said terrorism should be a "top priority issue" for the government, way behind "health care and long-term care costs for our aging population" (44 per cent), the economy (38 per cent) and pensions (36 per cent). Expect Harper to continue crying terror until election day. Nothing else has helped his reputation. After polling in the days before the government tabled C-51, Abacus said a gradual improvement in Harper's reputation stopped in January: 34 per cent had a positive view of the PM, 40 per cent a negative view.
eyeholes of a niqab. Harper's Conservatives have made their challenge to the niqab ruling a fundraising pitch. A mosque in Terrebonne, Que., was forced to close after municipal officials ruled it had obtained a permit to open "under false pretenses." Earlier in the month, Shawinigan refused a permit for a mosque because of what was termed "irrational" anti-Muslim fears by city officials. Here in Ottawa, a well-known Manitoba Muslim leader implored Canadians to stop casting all Muslims as threats because of the actions of terrorists who have subverted her faith. 
ambassador to Egypt, laughs at the very idea that human rights in Egypt have any importance for the West. "Nobody cares," he says. Of paramount importance, he says, is keeping the Brotherhood crushed, respecting the peace deal with Israel, and playing along with any agreement between Western nations and Iran to limit its nuclear ambitions. It is essential that Saudi Arabia and Egypt not obstruct that deal, says de Kerckhove: "Why would they make life miserable for el-Sissi when they are trying to achieve that? Human rights are completely out the window." So, billions in aid are flowing in. So is European investment. Stephen Harper, meanwhile, has said that Egypt's "transition toward democracy," while of course desirable, shouldn't be so abrupt that it would risk "forces from the street that run out of control." After all, he said in a speech in Tel Aviv last year, el-Sissi's elected predecessor was bent on using an element of democracy, an election win, to create an "authoritarian Islamic state." Well. At least it isn't Islamic anymore.
