Bill C-44

[Angel]

Does Bill C-44 infringe on our freedoms and liberties and is it worth our security?

[Fancy]

The bill would allow CSIS to seek a judicial warrant to investigate a security threat — "within or outside Canada.'' The warrant could be issued "without regard to any other law, including that of any foreign state,'' the legislation states.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/27 ... 55512.html

[Merry]

From what I have been able to find out about this bill, it has 3 main components.

1. Give informants anonymity – particularly at the Court level
2. Provides for Increased information sharing with our allies
3. Allows Judges in Canada to give warrants for investigating threats in other countries, even if it violates that country’s laws (prior to this CSIS was only allowed to conduct investigations on Canadian soil).

I can see pros and cons to each of these proposals, so I guess what is really needed is adequate oversight to make sure these powers are used for the purpose originally intended, and not abused. And from what I can tell that is the real problem with this bill - lack of adequate oversight.

The Government insists additional oversight is unnecessary, because there is already a committee appointed to oversee the activities of CSIS. This committee was created a few years back when the Government abolished the Inspector Generals Office. But the new committee is currently short 2 members, which is a significant number considering the full complement is only 5.

As the government moves to strengthen the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, two of five chairs sit empty on the watchdog agency that oversees the spy service.

Opposition MPs and a prominent national security lawyer say the vacancies leave the Security Intelligence Review Committee weakened at a time of heightened public concern about civil liberties.

Deborah Grey, the committee's interim chairwoman, says she's anxiously awaiting the appointment of two new members to bring the committee up to full strength.

Currently the committee is operating with three members, including Grey — the minimum permitted under federal legislation.

Grey said in an interview that she has flagged the vacancies to senior government officials.

"I've had discussions with some folks to say, 'We need two more, and we look forward to them being appointed as soon as possible'."

http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2014/1 ... FKnRJV0w_o

There are those who are of the opinion that this committee is inadequate even when at full strength, because it lacks the resources of the original method of oversight provided by the now disbanded Office of the Inspector General.

The Conservative government's decision to abolish the CSIS inspector general's office is a "huge loss" to the important task of keeping an eye on Canada's spy service, says the woman who held the job for the last eight years.
Eva Plunkett retired last December and the Conservative government subsequently scrapped her watchdog role, saying it would save money and eliminate duplication.
She had a staff of eight and a budget of about $1 million. The government says the Security Intelligence Review Committee – a panel of federal appointees – will take over the inspector general's functions. In her first public comments on the matter, Plunkett said it is "ridiculous" to think the review committee, known as SIRC, could do the same job of probing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that her office did.
"They don't do the same kind of work at all," she said in an interview. "They don't go into the same depth, the same detail. And they're basically part-time people."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/axing-c ... -1.1143212

[hobbyguy]

This government just keeps bashing away at our constitutional freedoms. The SOC already ruled against giving CSIS blanket source protection, and here they go trying to get that again.

There is something very wrong when our own government seems to feel that they need a $1 billion dollar palace full of spooks that are accountable to nobody.

2015 can't come soon enough. This guy is shredding all that is good about Canada.

[Angel]

”Don't rush to enact new anti-terror laws, former top judges advice government”

… O’Connor pointed out that the government’s proposed legislation will be subject to scrutiny by the courts to see if its provisions conform to the Charter of Rights. “One can take comfort that, in due course, there is that check and balance within our Constitution,” he said.

Lacobucci said Canadians should be “very concerned about overreach” in the struggle against terrorism. Though necessary, laws are by their nature reactive, he said. What’s needed are proactive efforts to better understand the motivation and underlying reasons for the increase in radicalization.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new ... government

History has shown that the Canadian government has overreached and abused their power in legislating new laws. For instance the War Measures Act, which was in force from 1914 to 1920, was a knee=jerk reaction gave broad powers to the Canadian government to maintain security during the war. During that time it was used to imprison Canadians of German, Ukrainian and Slavic descent. In 1939 to 1945, this act allowed the government to imprison Japanese Canadians and relieve them of their property. Who’s to say that an “ethnic population” won’t be imprisoned again? We let this happen before, why not let it happen again, for safety reasons of course?

I’m saddened by the events and I fear for the safety and security of the children. These events have forced us to take a step back and do something! We’re afraid; this fear is fuelled daily with mass media and the Internet, and because we are fearful, we blindly and ignorantly trust a government to do right by us while they subtly strip away our rights and freedoms. If not mine, someone else’s.

CONSTITUTION ACT, 1982

PART I
CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

LEGAL RIGHTS

Life, liberty and security of person
7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

Search or seizure
8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

Detention or imprisonment
9. Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html

[Angel]

Calls for Oversight

As talk of new powers swirled, the Conservative government rejected a push for more oversight. By fluke of timing in the parliamentary calendar, Liberal MP Joyce Murray’s private bill to boost oversight of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE, formerly CSEC) came up for debate on Oct. 30, eight days after Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau’s attack on parliament. The CSE is Canada’s foreign-focused electronic surveillance agency.

Ms. Murray is the latest to push for parliamentary oversight of CSE, a long-simmering call coming from across partisan lines. However, the government immediately announced it would not support her bill. Even as C-44 boosts CSIS’s reach internationally, therefore putting it closer than ever to CSE, government sees no need for more scrutiny of CSE.

The Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... e21418251/

[johnp3]

I do not trust any government to do anything that will make a situation better, CICS has proved it is a comedy group when it lost track of the Air India bombers and what ever federal group that does security at the airport had all the bomb sniffing dogs in Vancouver congradulating themselves when the bomb was loaded in Montreal.
We already have a police force that does what ever they want, and no one ever makes them pay or take resoponcability.
Trust is something you earn, they never take responcability.