June 18, 2016 will mark one year since the
status of human and democratic rights
in Canada took a dramatic turn for the
worse. On that day the infamous “Police
State” Bill C-51 officially became law.
Since Justin Trudeau and the Liberals
voted in favour of the Bill, have now held
a majority government for more than half
of its existence, and have been issuing
directives to the police, secret police and
government agencies on how to implement
its broad powers – the dubious ownership
of Bill C-51 now belongs just as much to
them as it does to Stephen Harper and the
Conservatives.
Government agencies, the RCMP and
CSIS have all admitted to using Bill C-51’s
new powers on an ongoing basis, but have
refused to explain how they are using them.
Under Bill C-51, they don’t have to. The
Liberal government’s directives to them on
how to implement Bill C-51 have also been
kept a secret.
Dangerous Period
As the days, months, and now a year
goes by there is a real danger that we
become used to this situation. That we
become used to 17 different government
agencies sharing our personal and private
information amongst themselves, used to
spy agencies having undefined powers of
“disruption” and the RCMP using powers
of arbitrary detention, used to Federal
Judges secretly pre-authorizing violations
of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedom or lawbreaking, used to language
of so-called “Anti-Terrorism” legislation
so vague it means that anyone even
voicing an opinion in contradiction to the
governments could be targeted. This is no
exaggeration, and this isn’t even a complete
list of the injustices of Bill C-51 which
have all been outlined by organizations like
the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
(CCLA), the Canadian Bar Association,
the United Nations
Working Group on
Human Rights, among
many others.
These are violations of our basic human
rights that no one should get used to.
Another danger is that we become fooled
that possible alterations to Bill C-51
currently being discussed by the Liberals will
change its nature as an unsafe, unnecessary
law which violates our basic human rights.
Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale
said recently in an interview with CBC that
he “hopes” that a national security review
committee is created before parliament
adjourns for the summer in four weeks, that
the government will be “consulting” with
people in Canada during the summer, and
that they will be proposing amendments to
Bill C-51 in the next parliamentary session.
It is significant that they feel pressured to
present these changes, but Bill C-51 should
have never existed in the first place.
Creation of Bill C-51
It is helpful to look back at the origins of
Bill C-51 to help remember why repealing
it is so necessary.
In October of 2014 there was both an
attack on Parliament Hill in Ottawa which
left one Canadian soldier and the shooter,
Michael Zehaf-Bibeau dead. Two days
before, on October 20, Martin Couture-
Rouleau deliberately rammed a car into a
pair of Canadian Armed Forces soldiers
in Quebec. Both died. Zehaf-Bibeau and
Couture-Rouleau were both recent converts
to Islam and both were also in obvious need
of psychological assistance.
The Conservatives and Stephen Harper
wasted no time in taking advantage of the
crisis, pushing forward new “anti-terrorism”
legislation which granted CSIS more
power for spying on Internet use inside
and outside of Canada and protecting the
anonymity of its informants. They also also
announced that Canada’s national security
strategy was no longer sufficient and they
were quickly moving forward with further
anti-terrorism legislation.
In a country where laws or amendments often
take years to create and to pass, Bill C-51
was rushed into and through parliament a
few months later. In announcing the new
legislation at a campaign style rally Stephen
Harper said, “Violent jihadism is not just
a danger somewhere else...It seeks to harm
us here in Canada — in our cities and in
our neighbourhoods, through horrific acts...
We are targeted by these terrorists for no
other reason than that we are Canadians.
They want to harm us because they hate our
society and the values it represents.”
With months to go before calling a Federal
Election, the Conservatives saw what
they thought was a perfect opportunity
to capitalize on the fear created by the
two terrorist attacks to advance legislation
severely limiting the right to dissent in
Canada, as well as putting their party in
what they hoped would be a strong position
going into the election.
Unfortunately for them, it backfired. After
some initial confusion protests sprung up
all around Canada as every major legal, civil
rights, human rights and press organization
denounced the Bill. In February 2015, an
Angus Reid poll had found that support for
the bill was at 82 per cent. By early March
according to Forum
Research it was down
to 45 per cent, and at
the end of March it plummeted to 33 per cent.
Importantly, the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association revealed, “Although we asked
the government repeatedly, not once did
we receive specifics on how any part of
C-51 could have prevented the attacks of
2014, or on why pre-existing legislation
was insufficient to protect us.” There were
already 14 “anti-terror” provisions in the
Canadian Criminal code before C-51.
Oversight, Amendments, Consultation –
Aren’t These a Step Forward?
We have detailed at length in the pages of
Fire This Time the specific limitations and
failures of each of the proposed Liberal
initiatives in regards to Bill C-51. How the
experience of countries like the US and UK
demonstrate that a parliamentary oversight
committee guarantees nothing, how
potential Liberal amendments would still
leave in place huge human rights violations
and how the public consultation has yet to
be defined and will surely have nothing in
place obligating the government to follow
through with anything they have heard. The
list goes on.
But the most important thing to focus on
is: Why do we need to discuss these things
in the first place? The government on
Canada, under both the Conservatives and
the Liberals, has yet to make a real case for
why Bill C-51 needs to exist. The CCLA
outlined how the Conservatives failed and/
or refused to explain how Bill C-51 makes
anyone anywhere any safer. The Liberals
have also refused to try and convince people
of the public safety necessity of Bill C-51.
So what’s the basis for taking away our
rights?
We can’t forget that the Conservatives also
made some amendments to Bill C-51 to
try and confuse and derail the movement
against it. The move failed because people
understood that the 62 page law had
nothing to do with national security and
public safety and everything to do with
political opportunism and silencing dissent.
The Liberals have not done any better.
These initiatives are all like someone
trying to sell you a broken-down house
by promising to put on a nice looking coat
of paint and do some yardwork. It doesn’t
change the fact that the foundation is
rotten and unlivable.
What’s a Life Without Human Rights?
On May 24, a Federal Court judge found
the Canadian government’s designation of
Mahmoud Jaballah as a threat to national
security unreasonable, and ordered that
the security certificate against him should
be removed. This is the third time a court
has ruled in his favour. For 16 years Mr.
Jaballah has been alternately imprisoned
in maximum-security settings, put in
solitary confinement, put under house
arrest, spied on and separated from his
family. Under “security certificates”, the
Canadian government can detain and
deport permanent residents or foreign
nationals considered to be a security threat
using secret evidence that the accused is
not allowed to see. Four other Muslim
men known as “the Secret Trial 5” have all
undergone the same horror
as well None have been
convicted of any terrorism-
related charges. All were
detained under Liberal
governments and their
conditions were continued
under Conservative ones.
Sixteen years of intense
injustice in the name of
“national security”. There
is no apology that will give
Mr. Jaballah those years
back, that can compensate
for the time without family
and freedoms. Under Bill
C-51’s massive new scope
how many more stories of
injustice and rights violations will we hear
about years after its too late. How many
will we not hear about because they were
blanketed in secrecy?
The Way Forward
It’s possible that the Liberals will continue
to delay and side-step the issue of Bill
C-51. It looks more likely that they will
feel obligated to move on their promises
in an attempt to slow down opposition.
Either way, our job remains the same:
Continue to take public action demanding
the immediate repeal of Bill C-51, and
continuing to explain to people why
anything less would be a travesty against our
human rights. The Working Group to Stop
Bill C-51 has organized 65 consecutive
weekly actions in Vancouver against Bill
C-51, and will continue to organize until
the law is scrapped in its entirety. Groups
and individuals around Canada know that
we have huge public backing against Bill
C-51 and must continue to organize to,
“REPEAL BILL C-51 NOW
Follow Thomas Davies on Twitter:
@thomasdavies59
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