ICLMG 13/01/2016 - Today, there are 17 Canadian agencies involved in national security information sharing, and only three have some sort of a review mechanism. [...] In his recommendations from the Arar Inquiry, Justice Dennis O'Connor established a list of recommendations for the creation of an integrated accountability regime. He favoured the review mechanism with a "super SIRC" model that would examine all the activities of all the agencies involved in national security. Unfortunately, those recommendations were never implemented. [...]
The recent news that Canada is considering to implement an oversight parliamentary committee based on the UK model is promising but it is not enough. Accountability is crucial for many reasons. It prevents abuses from occurring, it allows the agencies to learn from their past errors, it makes the agencies more efficient and transparent but, most of all, it gives assurances to the public about its institutions. So let's not forget the importance and the relevancy of the review mechanisms as recommended by Justice O'Connor.

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Version française: Mécanismes de surveillance et d'examen: lequel choisir?

Government may take extra steps to examine security agencies

Forcese & Roach: Bridging the national security accountability gap: A three-part system to modernize Canada's inadequate review of national security

rabble.ca 08/01/2016 - In a democracy, there must be a judicial review process to accompany any government program to avoid arbitrary decisions and human mistakes that may occur. With these "false positive" cases, there is no such process. People affected are left with no recourse except the media. Now that more and more parents are coming forward with similar stories about their kids being stopped and delayed in boarding their plane, it is time for the government to act swiftly. An investigation isn't enough. A total revamp of the no-fly list is needed as well as the implementation of a transparent judicial review that would allow everyone who has been prevented from travelling or delayed in flying to get the explanations they deserve. Yesterday evening, Minister Goodale issued a statement promising that the government will hold public consultations on the PPP to make sure that Canadians will remain safe while upholding our democratic values. This is a very promising step. It is overdue.

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CBC: Monia Mazigh, wife of Maher Arar, on no-fly list issues (radio)

The Globe and Mail editorial: The problem with no-fly lists goes beyond the unfair targeting of children

Red-flagging Canada's children on no-fly lists

The Canadian Press 14/01/2016 - Canada's new security system for scrutinizing people who arrive by airplane singled out more than 2,300 passengers for closer examination during a recent three-month period, the federal border agency says. The Canada Border Services Agency says the travellers - flagged for possible links to terrorism or serious crime - represented a tiny fraction of the millions who flew into the country. Still, privacy and civil liberties watchdogs want to know more about the border agency's so-called scenario-based targeting system to ensure individual rights are not being trampled. The agency has implemented the targeting system, already used by the United States, as part of Canada's commitment to co-operate with Washington under the 2011 continental security pact known as the Beyond the Border initiative. [...] Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien is pressing the border agency to explain the program's rationale and build in safeguards to protect individual liberties. Travellers may be targeted if they fit the general attributes of a group due to traits they cannot change such as age, gender, nationality, birthplace, or racial or ethnic origin, he warns. [...] Canadians don't know enough about the criteria being used, said Monia Mazigh, national co-ordinator of the Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group. "Why do we need to do it?" Mazigh wonders whether the border agency has scientific studies to show the new techniques will make Canada safer, or if it is simply following in American footsteps. "It's very important for Canadians to know that."

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CBC News 14/01/2016 - Alaradi has been in custody for 17 months. His family is in Windsor, Ont. Last September, the family hired the Ottawa lawyer Paul Champ. Champ told CBC News the trial will be heard in the State Security Chamber of the UAE Federal Supreme Court. "That tells us it's going to be some kind of national security or terrorism charge," Champ said in a phone interview. "He will be informed of the charges and the case will start right away." Cases heard in the State Security Chamber are not public. The accused, if found guilty, has no right of appeal and defence lawyers don't meet with the accused ahead of time. "At least now there is some kind of process in place which hopefully will see him acquitted and released," Champ said. "We were hoping the UAE would simply release Mr. Alaradi." [...] The Canadian government has requested an official be present at the trial for Canadian Salim Alaradi, held in the United Arab Emirate without being charged for more than 500 days. The trial is set to begin Monday, Jan. 18, say family and Amnesty International.

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The Canadian Press 09/01/2016 - The Liberal government is open to an expansive revamp of national security legislation, not just a handful of promised changes to the controversial bill known as C-51, says Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. The government will give Canadians a chance to have their say before deciding what changes to make, Goodale said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "If the consultation leads to a broader set of action items, obviously we would be guided by what that consultation tells us," Goodale said. [...] 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 terror plots through tactics that breach the charter as long as a judge approves. It has also committed to creating a special committee of parliamentarians to keep an eye on national 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 comprehensive security review from the inquiry into the overseas torture of Maher Arar.

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Les libéraux ouverts à repenser la sécurité nationale

ICLMG's reminder of why amendments are insufficient and Bill C-51 needs to be repealed

OpenMedia: Progress! Government agrees to public consultations on C-51

Canadian activists launch new campaign to demand debate over anti-terror law

The Globe and Mail 14/01/2016 - An Ontario judge has ruled there was a breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in "tower dump" production orders that required Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. to hand over the personal information of about 40,000 cellphone users to police. Justice John Sproat of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brampton issued a decision Thursday that found the orders - which were made in 2014 but later revoked by the police after Rogers and Telus challenged them - had authorized unreasonable searches in contravention of Section 8 of the Charter. The judge found the disclosure of personal information required by the orders went "far beyond what was reasonably necessary to gather evidence concerning the commission of the crimes under investigation" and concluded it was a breach of the Charter rights of the Rogers and Telus subscribers. Justice Sproat also set out guidelines in his ruling for how courts should handle requests for such orders to minimize the intrusion on personal privacy.

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Companies, scientists, and activists worldwide call on global leaders to protect strong encryption

Trevor Timm: Asking Silicon Valley to 'disrupt' terrorists is tech talk for 'surveillance'

Why Amazon's data centers are hidden in spy country

The new way police are surveilling citizens: Calculating their threat 'score'

You are not what you read: US librarians purge user data to protect privacy

Dutch push Intelligence sharing after missed signals in Paris

Let's stop pretending the guy who pepper sprayed Syrian refugees doesn't reflect Canada

Liberal government welcomes 10,000th Syrian refugee

Calais: Rob Lawrie, dernier exemple de poursuite pour « délit de solidarité »

As French government threatens to destroy Calais camp, refugees defiant

Europe besieged: Serious problems if borders brought back

Obama doesn't have to deport Central American refugees: report