As May comes to a close, the Liberal government's proposed “National Security” Bill C-59 now has less than one month left to pass through the Senate before the end of this parliamentary session. In a long drawn out process where no political party has been observably energized either for or against the law, the Senate National Security and Defence Committee has reported it back with amendments, and the Senate will now deliberate if it will accept the proposed changes. If Bill C-59 does not pass a vote before the deadline, it “dies” and would have to begin the process of becoming a law all over again after the Federal Election.
While the interest in protecting democratic and human rights is at what appears to be an all-time low in parliament, the Working Group to Stop Bill C-51 continues to be energized and committed to demanding a full Repeal of the Conservatives “Anti-Terrorism” Bill C-51, and the Liberal “light” version Bill C-59. Neither party has been able to explain how either law would make anybody any safer, while both set back hard-won rights to assembly, privacy and speech.
In contrast, the Working Group continued its bi-weekly campaign with its 213th and 214th consecutive actions at the busy Metrotown Station in Burnaby, as well as a new location at the Lonsdale Quay Seabus terminal in North Vancouver. This consistent grassroots campaign continues to demonstrate that if given the opportunity, poor and working people certainly have a lot of questions and answers about human rights and security. While the government continues to create laws that defend neither, the Working Group will continue the important campaign to “Repeal Bill C-51 and Scrap Bill C-59!'
REPEAL BILL C-51! SCRAP BILL C-59!
OUR SECURITY LIES IN DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF ALL
Follow Thomas Davies on Twitter: @thomasdavies59
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