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Press release: Canadian human rights organizations urgently call for Bill C-51 to be withdrawn
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Democratic process and anti-terrorism
Processus démocratique et anti-terrorisme
C-51, ou l'art de ne pas écouterLe Devoir 28/03/2015 - Les consultations en comité parlementaire sur la loi antiterroriste ont pris fin ce jeudi au terme de neuf séances de deux heures chacune. Une importante majorité de témoins ont suggéré, si ce n'est d'abandonner le projet C-51, du moins de le modifier en profondeur. Les troupes conservatrices entendront-elles les critiques ? On le saura mardi, quand le gouvernement aura l'occasion de présenter, le cas échéant, ses amendements et de se prononcer sur ceux de l'opposition. Le ministre  de la Sécurité publique, Steven Blaney, a donné le ton à ces consultations lors de son passage au comité pour marquer le début des audiences. Il s'en est pris aux « idées fausses » véhiculées par « quelques soi-disant experts ». Il en a remis cette semaine lorsqu'il a dit de l'opposition, qui le questionnait sur C-51 : « Ce serait bien d'avoir un parti d'opposition qui prend les questions de sécurité au sérieux et qui arrête de poser avec des gens qui se montrent les seins à l'air au Parlement. » Il s'agissait d'une référence à l'esclandre causé la veille par une Femen venue manifester son désaccord en pleine Chambre des communes. Read more - Lire plusJohn Ivison: Tories' behaviour during anti-terror bill hearings borderline anti-democraticNational Post 31/03/2015 - Even in the darkest days of the Second World War, Winston Churchill addressed the House of Commons with the latest news, good or bad, and never shrank from a vote of censure. "I am," he used to say, "a servant of the House of Commons." The great Tory leader would probably be appalled by Canada's Conservatives, who appear to believe the acronym MP stands for Masters of Parliament, given the way they treat its institutions like whipped dogs. [...] An exchange with a senior Conservative reveals the mistrust between the government and the opposition is not just between individuals, it's systemic. The MP said if Canada's parliamentary culture was similar to that of  the U.S., Britain or Australia, where two parties alternate in power, the government would have had no problem with parliamentarians forming a national security committee with oversight powers over all departments and agencies, since there is a degree of "maturity" about security issues. However, Canada has had the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party as the Official Opposition. The latter has opposed every security bill and every military engagement since 1945, save (briefly) the Libya campaign, he said. "How can we grant access to the country's most sensitive secrets to people who want the country to fail [the Bloc] or have no confidence in the entire security apparatus [the NDP]?" This strikes me as wandering beyond partisan arrogance into terrain that is borderline anti-democratic. Read more - Lire plus We can't hear you: The shameful review of Bill C-51 by the numbersFrom Obama birthers to anti-immigration activists: Who the government turned to for Bill C-51 support during Committee hearingsAlex Neve: The government should listen to Canadians' concerns about Bill C-51Bill C-51 amendments seem unconnected to committee processDiane Ablonczy uses air quotes while discussing 'rule of law,' Bill C-51 Elizabeth May: By denying my right to speak, our Parliament is weakenedBill C-51: If the Senate does its job today, this is what it would ask
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Surveillance des agences de sécurité
Oversight of security agencies
Canada's spy review bodies struggling to keep tabs on agenciesThe Toronto Star 01/04/2015 - The review bodies for both of Canada's intelligence agencies are raising concerns about their ability to keep track of the country's spies. The warnings come as the Conservatives continue to insist that Canada does not require increased oversight into the Canadian Security Intelligence Service or the Communications Security Establishment. The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), which reviews CSIS actions, said continued vacancies on the five-person board, the inability to investigate CSIS operations with other agencies, and delays in CSIS providing required information are "key risks" to the committee's mandate. Meanwhile, the Office of the Communications Security Establishment  Commissioner warned that the growth of the massive electronic spying agency, coupled with fiscal restraint at the commissioner's office, is a "constant concern." The two review bodies combined boast about 30 full-time employees and an annual budget of roughly $5 million, according to government documents. The agencies they review are expected to spend more than $1 billion this year, and CSE alone has more than 2,000 employees. The concerns were raised in both agencies' plans and priorities reports, which outline the expected actions and spending of government departments and agencies for the year. They come as Parliament continues to debate Bill C-51, which would give CSIS a much wider mandate to investigate and "disrupt" threats to Canada's national security. Many critics who testified about the bill, and a good number of witnesses who support it, have argued there should be some measure of parliamentary oversight into the actions intelligence services take on Canadians' behalf. Read more - Lire plus CSIS: Canadian spy agency's overseer can't really oversee: documentsCSEC: Review body for Canada's electronic spy agency warns it can't keep up
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Canada at war
Canada en guerre
Gar Pardy: The convenience of perpetual war
Embassy 01/04/2015 - There is a deadly sense of déjà vu as leaders go about extending and expanding the Canadian military presence in Iraq and now into Syria. There is considerable passion and there are few aspects of the decision that have not been spun for an interested public. "Deter," "degrade" and "defeat" flow from our leaders' tongues with the ease of salesman selling a new mouthwash; "precision" bombing is discussed as if this was equivalent to tossing curling stones in downtown Moose Jaw; training by foreign troops of local forces is accepted as if this was a woodworking class in the local trades school; recovery of downed pilots from ISIS-controlled territory is glossed over with the suggestion that the Americans will handle this nasty possibility; and the legality of extending the war to Syria is justified by parsing sections of the  United Nations Charter by the chief lawyer for the Canadian military, hardly an unbiased observer. And now the philosophers of our military mission have weighed in. The foreign minister has concluded the whole operation is a matter of "moral clarity," words not dissimilar to those said to the medieval public for the crusades; the defence minister, on the other hand, sees the war as an enormous humanitarian exercise, leaving many scratching their heads. The cartoons will be underway soon; a large bomb falls on Tikrit and a child says to another, "don't worry, it's a Canadian humanitarian bomb." Unfortunately there is one aspect of the war that is being ignored, and as with most modern wars it is the most important. No one, especially the militaries involved, has offered any assessment of success in understandable terms of what this war will achieve. Most will only say that a conclusion is years away, which in today's world is no answer whatsoever. We have dressed for a ball that we do not understand, and invited ourselves, knowing we have no capability of influencing the outcome. Instead, leaders who should know better see the war as a means of scratching a small itch in the national body politic-fear of an imprecise national security threat. In response, they send our soldiers into harm's way, and this even before they have satisfactorily dealt with the wounded from the last war.
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Liberté de la presse
Press freedom
Ottawa refuse toujours de délivrer un passeport à Mohamed Fahmy
Le Devoir 01/04/2015 - Le journaliste canadien qui subit un procès en Égypte a exprimé sa surprise et sa colère devant le refus du gouvernement fédéral de lui délivrer un passeport alors qu'il attend toujours de connaître son sort. Mohamed Fahmy - qui est né en Égypte et a immigré au Canada à l'adolescence avec sa famille - a dit que les autorités égyptiennes avaient saisi son passeport lorsqu'il a été arrêté au Caire en décembre 2013 et ne le lui ont jamais  remis. L'homme âgé de 40 ans - qui a été détenu pendant plus d'un an dans un cachot égyptien - tente de s'en procurer un nouveau depuis qu'il a été libéré sous caution en février. Il a indiqué qu'il avait franchi toutes les étapes nécessaires pour faire une demande. « Je suis désemparé. Le fait de marcher sans un passeport canadien représente un danger pour ma sécurité, a-t-il dit au cours d'une interview qu'il a accordée depuis Le Caire. Je ne sais plus quoi faire. Fahmy shocked at Ottawa's refusal to issue passport Colombia - Seven-year "terrorism" investigation against journalist dropped Associated Press president Gary Pruitt says killing of journalists should be a war crime
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Criminalisation de la dissidence
Criminalization of dissent
The Huffington Post 26/03/2015 - What do Canadian veterans, advocates for the disabled and the country's largest union have in common? Their activities were monitored and reported on by police and government agencies over the last year. Documents show the central Government Operations Centre received reports on more than 160 protests, community events, and demonstrations between May 2014 and February 2015. The RCMP, Public Safety Canada, and the Privy Council Office prepared reports for the GOC - which co-ordinates the federal government's response to national emergencies and natural disasters. While much of the monitoring focused on First Nations causes and environmental activism, the GOC showed a diverse set of interests, including: A rally on Parliament Hill pushing for better benefits for Canadian veterans; a "die-in" protesting police brutality against black Americans, including vigils for Ferguson, Mo. shooting victim Michael Brown organized by the  Black Lives Matter movement; an event called "Paddle for Peace" in Fort St. Jean, B.C., where the report noted "public order issues are not expected"; Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care's national day of action; and an "interfaith peace demonstration" in Mississauga. The RCMP also reported on the Occupy movement in B.C.'s efforts to reach out to like-minded groups to "face the Industrial Hydra." The intelligence looks to have come from a Facebook posting. The documents show police and government agencies have been active on Facebook, reporting on protest plans organized through social media. One report to the centre dealt with a potential "cyber protest" aimed at the oil and gas industry. The centre was established by the former Liberal government in 2004. It was meant to provide 24/7 monitoring and "situational awareness" to government departments about potential or actual hazards on a national scale. The centre co-ordinates with federal departments, provincial and territorial governments, and other countries, including the United States. But Wayne Easter, a former solicitor general and the Liberal MP who obtained the documents, said the agency seems to have strayed from its original mandate.
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Surveillance globale
Mass surveillance
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Autres nouvelles - More news
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Politique et terrorisme
Politics and terrorism
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Ressource
Bill C-51: List of briefs presented to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security
The ICLMG has compiled a non-exhaustive list of briefs and speaking notes presented to the House of  Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security on Bill C-51. Consult them here
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Action
Tell your MP to oppose Bill C-51!
OpenMedia - The government's Secret Police Bill C-51 is reckless, dangerous, and ineffective. The bill will recklessly turn CSIS into a secret police force, dangerously undermine our democratic rights, while subjecting law-abiding Canadians to  ineffective dragnet surveillance and information sharing. The government is trying to ram it through Parliament right now - we urgently need to tell MPs to reject this extreme legislation. Let's each take a moment to write to our local MP through this easy-to-use tool! 
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Action
Join the Week of Education to Stop Secret Police Bill C-51
OpenMedia - The government is about to ram through a reckless, dangerous and ineffective "secret police" law called Bill C-51.  From April 13th to April 20th people across Canada will step up for a Week of Education to Stop C-51. Any activity that helps educate your fellow residents of Canada is welcome: Petitions, letter writing, social media outreach, marches, forums, flyering, canvassing etc.. Let's grow the numbers in opposition. Join the Thunderclap!
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Action
UnfollowMe: Tell governments to ban mass surveillance
Amnesty International Canada - Governments are snooping on everything we do online. State intelligence and security agencies are using mass surveillance to collect our private emails, calls, internet searches, contact lists, phone locations, webcam images and more.  Sign our petition today, and call on Canada, the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand - to end indiscriminate mass surveillance today.
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Film
Citizenfour: Free screening at Bytowne
PSAC - Citizenfour chronicles the eight days Edward Snowden spent in a Hong Kong hotel room with filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald, where Snowden blew the  whistle on the United States' secret data-collection programs and the complicity of foreign governments, including Canada's, in those efforts. Thursday April 9th 6:45pm Bytowne Cinema DetailsFacebook event
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Action
Canadian security bill puts your rights at risk
Amnesty International Canada - Bill C-51, The Anti-Terrorism Act, forms the core of the most comprehensive reforms to the Canada 's national security laws since 2001. Widely expanded powers and new criminal offences raise serious human rights concerns.  Send a message to the Minister for Public Safety calling on him to withdraw Bill C-51 and ensure human rights.
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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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letters. Meanwhile, editorial boards from across the political spectrum continue to critique the Bill and the manner in which it is being deliberated in Parliament. Amnesty International, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, La Ligue des Droits et Libertés and the National Council of Canadian Muslims have, from the outset, stated that the human rights shortcomings in Bill C-51 are so numerous and inseparably interrelated, that the Bill should be pulled back. The organizations have said that any national security law reform should instead, first, be convincingly demonstrated to be necessary and should then proceed only in a manner that is wholly consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the country's international human rights obligations.
common ground. Both parties are handing Prime Minister Stephen Harper a red card for playing rough with his overreaching 
power to arrest. CSIS will furthermore be allowed to violate a suspect's Charter rights if it gets a warrant from a judge during a secret hearing at which only government representatives are present. The bill does absolutely nothing to create even a minimally acceptable level of parliamentary oversight for this extremely troubling measure. Bill C-51 also makes it a speech crime to "advocate or promote the commission of terrorism offences in general" - a vague clause carrying a maximum five-year sentence. The Harper government has never justified the need for the bill's drastic measures; it has merely brought them into being as a wedge issue, and used them to make accusations of softness against any and all critics. The government must spend more time explaining in clear, unambiguous terms why the bill and its new powers are so important, or recognize those who argue that the bill needs to be thoroughly rewritten, or scrapped, gain a legitimate upper hand.
Canada's principal security and intelligence agencies, CSE would factor into C-51 in a substantial way. One of the most contentious parts of C-51, the Information Sharing Act, would relax rules on information sharing among at least 17 government agencies, CSE included. As the lead agency charged with gathering intelligence from the global information infrastructure (i.e. the Internet and all Internet-connected systems), protecting Canadian networks from threats abroad, and providing "technical assistance" to Canada's other security agencies, CSE will be front and centre around the "big data" analysis opened up by C-51 and would take on an even more prominent role than it has today around our security, foreign intelligence, and law enforcement. In order to make an informed opinion, it is imperative that Canadians understand how this highly classified agency operates, what are the statutory limits to its authority, and how it will change should C-51 pass into law.
