By Alyssa Stryker, BCCLA Caseworker, and Carmen Cheung, BCCLA Senior Counsel
A condensed version of this piece first appeared in The Tyee.
At over 60 pages, Bill C-51 – the Anti-Terrorism Act – is both literally and figuratively a heavy read. It proposes a myriad of radical changes to Canadian law and to Canada’s national security apparatus, many of which seriously jeopardize the rights and freedoms of Canadians while promising little improvement to public safety. Lawyers at the BC Civil Liberties Association have gone over the bill paragraph by paragraph, and we’ve outlined the parts of this massive document that concern us most. For a more comprehensive explanation of our concerns, read our Submission to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
1.Bill C-51 drastically expands the definition of ‘security.’
When you think of being secure, you likely think of being safe from physical danger. But Bill C-51 defines security as not only safeguarding public safety, but also preventing interference with various aspects of public life or ‘the economic or financial stability of Canada’. With this definition, a demonstration in favour of Quebec separatism that fails to procure the proper permit, environmentalists obstructing a pipeline route or a peaceful blockade of a logging road by an Indigenous community could all be seen as threats to national security.
2. It gives the government too much discretion to pick and choose which individuals and groups to target for further scrutiny.
Bill C-51 gives the government the ability to designate an extraordinarily broad range of activities as potential security threats. They claim that they will use good judgment when deciding which individuals and groups constitute ‘true’ threats. But this discretionary power just means that whether or not a particular group is seen as a threat may turn on whether their cause is politically popular and in line with the views of the government of the day.
3. It criminalizes speech acts that have no connection to acts of violence.
The Criminal Code already makes it illegal to counsel anyone to commit a terrorism offence and to instruct or facilitate terrorist acts. But Bill C-51 wants to create an additional offence called ‘advocating or promoting terrorism.’ It would criminalize speech in support of ‘terrorism offences in general,’ and includes no requirement that the speaker actually intends for a terrorism offence to be committed. Indeed, there’s no requirement that a terrorism offence even take place.
4. It will severely chill freedom of expression.
It’s unclear even to experts exactly what kinds of speech and protest activity may be considered threats to national security if the bill passes; the average Canadian has little hope of feeling confident that their legitimate political activity hasn’t inadvertently crossed the line. Bill C-51’s expansive language means that Canadians will likely choose not to express themselves even in completely legal ways rather than risk prosecution. Legitimate speech will be chilled, and our democracy will be worse off for it.
5. Canada’s no-fly list would become a secret list compiled with secret evidence, only reviewable through court proceedings that may also be secret.
Canada’s Passenger Protect Program – better known as the no-fly list – is already riddled with problems; Bill C-51 would make it even worse. It would make it illegal for the government or an airline to confirm or deny that an individual is on the list, even to the affected individual. Someone who believes that they may have been listed would not be entitled to access any of the evidence on which their suspected listing was based. If they were successful in initiating a judicial review of the listing decision, the hearings may happen in secret.
6. It will allow government institutions like Health Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency to share information about you with the RCMP.
The proposed Security of Canada Information Sharing Act (part of Bill C-51) would allow government institutions – including non-security-related institutions like Health Canada and the CRA – to share information amongst themselves without a warrant if they believe that the information may be relevant to national security. Given that no one wants to be seen as responsible in case of a security breach, the default will be to share as much information as possible. Massive information sharing does not mean better security. Not only does this jeopardize the privacy of the individuals whose information is being shared, but it may actually make it harder for investigators to detect real security threats: when looking for a needle in a haystack, it hardly helps to add more hay.
7. Canada already has a troubling regime of preventative arrest and detention; Bill C-51 proposes to make it even worse.
Currently the Criminal Code permits the police to arrest, detain and impose restrictions (such as a curfew or travel ban) on someone who has never been (and may never be) charged with a crime if they have good reasons to believe that a terrorist activity will be carried out if these actions aren’t taken. Bill C-51 would lower the threshold for these actions to situations where the police believe that a terrorist activity might be carried out. It also doubles the amount of time an individual can be detained without charge. Innocent people could be arrested and detained on mere suspicion of future dangerousness.
8. It would give CSIS the power to act like a police force, while still allowing it to operate as secretly as an intelligence gathering service.
Bill C-51 would radically redefine the role of CSIS to include the ability to act on – rather than merely to collect – security intelligence. This ignores the lessons of history. The 1960s and 1970s saw serious rights abuses undertaken by the RCMP under its ‘security intelligence’ mandate. CSIS was created in the 1980s for the express purpose of separating Canada’s intelligence agency from its police force. As an intelligence agency, CSIS is permitted to conduct much of its work in secret, and the details of most of its activities are never revealed publically. But that’s precisely why CSIS should not be permitted to also operate as a police force: this secrecy means that rights violations by CSIS are more difficult to detect – and once detected, more difficult to remedy – than if they were the result of actions undertaken by law enforcement agencies.
It is essential that this travesty of a Bill should not sully the Canadian Legal System by being made legal.
I never thought George Orwell’s book “1984” world would turn out to be Canada in 2015.
We have the power to end this attack on our democracy, get out and vote this year!
Stop Harper!
Yeah, can’t agree more. It’s scary how accurate it is.
Lol voting won’t do anything. We need a civil uprising.
Easy Meagan, them’s strong werds… you may be found retroactively guilty of an offence called ‘advocating or promoting terrorism.’
Strategic voting to make sure that way fewer Harper Con robots get elected, will go a long way to stop this dictatorship. A minority government is what democracy needs.
I sure hope as many people as possible will vote NDP and Green Party wherever they stand a chance of being elected.
Even voting Liberal WHERE historically they’ve been strong or where they have a very strong local candidate, would still help elect a minority govt.
Lol Harper voted against this. Do your research.
sures Act and Marshall Law all rolled into the Conservative’s Bill C-51 – Anti-Terrorist Act proposed law.
Bill C-51 or the Anti-Terrorist Act is like the War Measures Act and Marshall Law rolled into one piece of legislation…..scary….so much for the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
It is pretty sad that you would try to break down thousands of pages of a bill with absolutely no quotations or citations. There is absolutely not proof of anything you are saying, just a bunch of banter of someones person bias with no evidence. On top of that, you have not presented both sides, the good and the bad. So why would and person with common sense view this blog as something worth believing?
Thousands of pages? It’s just, like they mentioned, over 60 pages. Here, go read. You will find ample proof.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=6932136&File=29#1
This is not “personal bias”, it’s LAWYERS summarizing it for us in plain English.
To see broken-down info in lawyerese, see their full document, and also law professors and terrorism experts Craig Forcese and Kent Roach http://www.antiterrorlaw.ca/
And Human Rights lawyer Clayton Ruby’s detailed legal opinion: http://www.sott.net/article/293322-Canadas-State-Policemans-Bill-C-51-legal-opinion .
Uh..more than 100 legal experts, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, four former prime ministers, five former Supreme Court judges, Amnesty International, the Assembly of First Nations to name a few have come out strongly opposed, claiming that this bill will be a major infringement on Canadian rights and freedoms. I’d say that that’s more than a “bunch of banter”. I’d say we have heard from the other side – their arguments are so weak that they’ve had to resort to McCarthyism type tactics (see http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/17/worried-about-c-51-youre-probably-a-terrorist/ for more on that)
This is NOT an attack on your rights! It’s to stop smooth offenders from using there “rights” to get away with things. Anything we do CAN be abused but it likey WON’T. I belive this bill will do more good than harm
Did you even read what this post is saying?
Democracy doesn’t exist in Canada let alone in the USA. It hasn’t existed for years. Simply a well orchestrated illusion. This Bill just certifies that basic logic.
It is bad bill for civil liberties and made much worse because of the lack of oversight. The fact that an innocent person can be caught up in this and will be left with no recourse for damages after all is said and done is disgusting. A government that can trash the life of one of it’s citizens on speculation and no proof and then not be held responsible, is a government that should be tossed out of Canada.
Harper wants to be able to have any opposition (political or otherwise) arrested as a threat to Canada’s security.
Anyone with a different viewpoint to his will be branded a security risk and a threat to the well being of the country as it is defined by Stevie Babe.
I expect that a majority of people will continue to complain about the “Steven Harper Party” but will still vote for him in the next election. That’s the way it’s gone the last election. Everyone bitches but no one does anything about it.
Once this bill passes, even comments like this will eligible for covert investigation, secret incarceration and disappearance.
No doubt!- they are chippin’ away at our rights & freedoms – one day at a time!
Exactly right.
Stephen Harper wants another majority and dissenters, as well as members of opposition parties, may well be arrested prior to the election so they cannot vote!
He has already hamstrung Elections Canada’s ability to investigate the government and now he is going to jail us if we dissent. Bah!
I totally agree with you, Richard and most likely our comments are already monitored.
All these potential crimes – and “terrorism” is just another crime – are already covered by the existing criminal code and police forces. There is zero need for vague amorphous laws enabling government or law enforcement authorities to arbitrarily and secretly declare various public organizations, demonstrations, or non-violent civil disobedience as “terrorism” and arbitrarily arrest and detain people without charge. That is Police State legislation like the Patriot Act in the US.
There are too many naive tree huggers out there who are unaware of the real world. Terrorists are becoming more of a threat in this country and people are afraid for the
‘rights’ of these terrorists. This legislation will put some teeth in our enforcement watchdogs. Look at the positives and don’t be suckered by terrorist sympathizers.
If you do not like how they are doing things, get out and join the conservative party. Then you can change things in a proper way. Talk less and do more.
Oh my goodness! I think there might be a terrorist under my bed right now! Let me just go check. Maybe he would like some tea.
They’re everywhere, you know….
Wow you truly are ignoant. first of all if we had more “tree huggers” the planet would not be dying? ISIS was created by the USA & Israel. Al Quead was created by the CIA. The only person who profits from terror is the banksters & corrupt governments. It is very sad that people like you have been brainwashed by the system.
It is terrible harperianism.
Rudeness is another way of ignorance.
no, ignorance is a form of ignorance. Rudeness is human behaivour!
The political agenda behind the scenes that produces legislation like C-51 is very troubling. The so called war on terror is really a war on western democracy instigated by fascists plutocrats that have “captured” the Canadian Parliament. C-51 is really very treasonous to all that most Canadians hold as true and proper. C-51 also allows for torture not mentioned in the eight points.
This makes me truly afraid of my own government. Not of “terrorists”, but of the police, CSIS… my government. Watch the video for an outlook that I would consider “Canadian”. Harper is simply a wanna-be American gunslinger with too much power. A SFU professor and his daughter was threatened recently by the RCMP for taking pictures in a public conservation park… his crime – taking pictures too close to a potential oil pipeline route.
If they can do that now… what can we expect after this…?????
Perhaps it will be safer in China. Dare I give you my last name? They probably already have it.
This is the same type of tactics use in the U.S.S.R., where everyone was afraid to talk to anyone for fear of being arrested (or worse and in secret) by the KGB. I thought democracy was the exact opposite of these type of actions.
That’s exactly what I mentioned to Richard.
https://www.liberal.ca/canadian-liberty-and-the-politics-of-fear/?j=62538&e=dan%40banov.com&l=387_HTML&u=2789026&mid=7200944&jb=105&utm_medium=email&utm_source=liberal&utm_campaign=liberty_speech_20150310&one_time_pcode=300014568&default=a
That’s a great speech, and really speaks to some core values about what it is to be Canadian. But it sure makes me wonder why Trudeau is willing to vote for C51. A funny position, from the man who says in that very speech: “I think policies are concrete expressions of values.”
“Feets in the Streets” is the correct response to this reeking bill. The rally at the Art Gallery on Mar.14 is a “must-attend” event. Peaceful. Purposeful. Be there. I will be.
locations Canada wide here http://we.leadnow.ca/stopc51
i think if the unimaginable comes to pass and Harper is re-elected, this bill must be looked at in a broader context — what exactly is it aimed at in the process for attaining totalitarian rule? You can be sure the state of affairs presently in the country is but a weak foreshadowing of things to come. Can we imagine preemptive roundups of blacklisted citizens before the imposition of martial law? The cattlecars with the shackles are not that far off.
The real terrorist here is our government using fear to gain votes by giving the terrorist exactly what they desire. Slowly eroding our civil liberties incrementally until we might as well be an Islamic state. The irony is that we Canadians send our armed forces abroad to defend civil liberties of others but our own government is willing to piss off our own civil liberties just to get votes. We already have the legislation required to minimize the risk of terrorism. I am more afraid of a car accident killing me. I am sure that I have already been flagged as a potential threat just by my rant even without this legislation.
With all due respect, I would suggest that we will not be living in an “Islamic state.” There are many countries around the world with Muslim majorities which in which freedom is practiced and defended.
With this kind of legislation, however, we ARE moving toward becoming a more corrupt (and scary) dictatorship, in which all dissent is criminalized, and in which the bullies are in charge.
The rule of law is being reduced, and the rule of arbitrary capriciousness by the powers that be is what this foreshadows.
There goes intent as an essential element of any criminal offence. Stephen McCarthy Harper has crossed the Rubicon.
There will come a day when we look back on the era and wonder how we could have been so stupid as to allow a government to so openly and blatantly seize power and terrorize its citizens with the looming possibility of abuse of such powers. The future will shake its collective head at us just as we do now at other fascist regimes that maneuvered their way into total control. This is what happens when smart but spiteful and hate-filled people seek power. Now did what I just type constitute a threat to Canada’s stability under the proposed bill because it paints our government as acting in a potentially fascist way or opening the doors to fascism? I don’t know! But it is so vague I’m sure it could!
You would not be alone in holding those thoughts, Robert.
If this bill is passed, and ordinary people have to live in fear that their lives will be disrupted and possibly ruined by some whim of government, is that not terrorism? Does this bill not give our own government the freedom to terrorize it’s citizens? We’ll have to change the words of our national anthem because we will no longer be “the true north strong and free”.
Everyone GET OUT AND PROTEST this Saturday. If there was anything to defend it was our Rights and Freedoms. Find your local protest here.
http://we.leadnow.ca/stopc51
I’m not too concerned about it. As with anything there can be abuses. We don’t live in the 80s either. I would like more info on what CSIS would be enabled to do though. I do think the no-fly list should be accessible so you can defend yourself.
It is a bad bill period!! The last little man who tried to take over a country (and then the world) caused a war. It looks like our little coward of a Prime Minister is trying to get his way thru the back door. This doesn’t surprise me because if things don’t go Stevie’s way…….
Harper and all involved need to go to jail for Treason
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/206/650/856/ etc
Welcome back to the Dark Age!
I have just read through some of the many comments, including comparing Harper to Hitler, talk of this bill leading to a totalitarian state, McCarthyism Canada style, cattle trucks with shackles etc,etc.
Really? If this is the stuff that keeps you up at night you may want to access some counselling services.
Surely no one can deny that the terrorist threat is spiking, and getting a little too close to home. The terrorists are very proficient with their use of the social media infrastructure that the west developed.
Our country needs to be able to stay ahead of that curve. I would tender that this bill, if it becomes law, will never affect anyone that your readers know, that I know or the millions of other Canadians that are just getting on with their lives.
We are so fortunate to live in a country like this, where opinions, no matter how outrageous, can get aired and no one comes knocking on your door.
So sleep tight and don’t worry about the bogie man, this is not North Korea, Tehran, Kabul et al.
This rally being planned just sounds like one more anti-Harper bash.
I totally agree. We are so lucky to live here.
The terrorist threat is spiking? In what way is it spiking? Because they’re using twitter? Still there have been no terrorist attacks on Canadian soil. You sir are the one who’s so blinded by mindless paranoia and brainwashed by propaganda used to justify the western presence in the middle east. I’d suggest some counselling. 🙂
Ottawa killings, train and Govt building bomb plots, Air India bombing, Twin Towers. About 300 dead Canadians. I count the T.T. as “WORLD” Trade Centre and that’s close enough. A C-51 is needed but I agree, no free rein. Public watchdog with teeth.
Apparently you have completely missed the entire point of bill C51 if you make a comment such as the second to last one you made
This bill, if passed will do exactly what your saying we currently don’t have to worry about
You have taken ignorance to a new level.
If this bill passes, you will have to worry about what you say, you will have to worry about voicing your opion because even if it is misunderstood. You can be incarcerated
Go back and re read the 8 points and get back to the class
Harper must have been getting advice from China on his last visit on how to craft This bill to control the masses. If people are afraid to speak openly that will just drive terrorists further underground and make it harder to monitor and find them.
Every little step makes me just that much more controlled. Bill Ç-51 is typical of the start of many police states. Police powers with no third party over site is ripe for abuse. But then who will know?
Don’t give up your freedoms , it is your soul. It make us what we are .
I am a retired police officer and just posted a comment on some of the history of our Security Services in Canada. I think people might be a little surprised how many parallels exist between what happened in the 1970’s during the “FLQ Crisis” and the current “War on Terror” that has been waged since September 2001. Thank you for listed your concerns about Bill C51. I am in full agreement. Harold
I forgot to add the link: http://www.mcneillifestories.com/oversight-police-security-services/
Good point. It has been quite some time since Ithought about the FLQ crisis and Trudeau with the War Measures Act. However, as I recall, the War Measures Act had time limits associated with it. C-51 would become a permanent fixture and all citizens could be defined as the “FLQ”.
Hmm . . . if this much time and attention and investigative powers were given to domestic abuse and sexual assault cases, WOMEN would feel a whole lot more secure in their own country and their own homes. I find it beyond ironic that when our menfolk suddenly feel threatened (terrorism or gay rights), all common sense and access to human rights go out the window. Bill C-51 is a travesty against Canadians’ democratic rights and a massive overreaction to the level of the threat. Heck, tracking moose and taking cars off the roads would make Canadian safer than this piece of election germandering. Get a grip!
WOW . I never imagined that a “civil liberties” organization would engage in so much fear-mongering! As a libertarian, I am against the unnecessary growth of the state as much as anyone, but what I am reading here is light on facts and heavy on speculation. Thank goodness that none of you are running this country!
Hi Gene,
This piece is merely an introduction to Bill C-51 for Canadians looking for an entry point to understanding the issue. I invite you to read BCCLA’s speaking points and written submissions on the Bill here: https://bccla.org/news/2015/03/bccla-sets-out-case-against-anti-terror-bill-c-51-at-parliamentary-hearing/
If you still have concerns about the substance of our comments at that time, we’d be happy to discuss further.
As a libertarian you had better give your head a shake.
At the moment if some mal-content police officer checks your driver’s license with csis start shaking in your libertarian booties.
i.e. you have no record what so ever, the officer didn’t care much for your attitude and checks with csis for fun every day for a two weeks. You drive across the country on a holiday and just happen to get stopped for a malfunctioning tail light. The officer does a check on your license and gets a response that you have no record but your name was checked every day for two weeks. Any oficer worth their pay check is going to wonder just what you have been up to. If you think you are going to be let go with a “Have a nice day” think again. I’m not a police officer but if I was I would be asking you to explain why your name shows up on file every day for two weeks.
COME ON LIBERTARIAN – convince me it is all some mistake! Now with C-51, I could take you in and detain you until YOU PROVE that it is all some mistake which in your view will be easy even though as a possible national security risk you are not permitted to see csis records.
COME ON LIBERTARIAN – convince me it is all some mistake! Sorry but the CROWN isn’t going to cover your expenses. So you hire a lawyer and after being multi dollars poorer you are set free to return home. Whoops that pesky tail light acts up again and you just happen to get pulled over by another police officer four blocks from your home. If you are lucky this police officer knows you, if not your nightmare is about to start all over again. You get another lawyer who gets things all sorted out for you – WELL ALMOST! You see, NOBODY, can hit the delete button and erase the fact that you have no record because everybody is considered a national security risk and does not have the authority to do that.
Oh let’s have some compassion here – after more legal fees your lawyer convinces the supreme court of Canada that you have not been treated fairly, that you have never had a record and the supreme court orders that the record you do not have must be deleted. Time goes by and that pesky malfunctioning light causes a police officer to pull you over and the officer does a check of your license and gets a response, “File not accessable by order of the supreme court of Canada”. Hello – LIBERTARIAN – guess what????????
Gene, I challenge your libertarianism, and your ‘light on facts’ comment. You provide no facts of your own to counter these points, which are largely in line with the literature out there. If you have a different interpretation of the laws, I would love to hear it. These laws are indisputably giving the government more powers over their citizens in the name of protecting them. The only question is if you think giving up these freedoms is worth the extra purported safety. I could believe a conservative or person driven by fear would prioritise safety over freedoms (and respect many conservatives who do so), but I have a hard time believing a Libertarian would. I would ask if liberty is truly your guiding principle, or if it’s a safe, stable life.
I agree. Well said.
look at Argentina…same type of bill…protecting them from US invasion is the leaders excuse…
Unsurprisingly, this looks quite similar in nature and scope to the USA PATRIOT Act. Hopefully Canadians can come together to effectively oppose this bill.
The New World Order are getting their feet in every door possible, Canada is no different and they must be stopped somehow
I am innocent, I have nothing to hide. please pass this bill to protect me.
I have nothing to hide, I am innocent. please pass this bill to protect me.
Thank goodness we still have an organization like B.C. Civil Liberties to recognize attacks against our rights and step up to bat for us in protecting our freedoms. I encourage all to donate and lend support in any way possible.
Our politicians have never listened to us in the past. They’re not going to listen to us now. The entire country protested the GST and we got it anyways. The entire country telephone voted against NAFTA and we got it anyways. It’ll be the same for this. All Harper has to do is come out and sing a Beatles song and the average Canadian will just go back to watching hockey and drinking beer. We are a nation of apathetic cowards and our government knows it.
This Bill C51 is a relpica of Anti Terrorism Legislation in South Africa during the Apartheid Era. In the 80’s Canadians rallied against: “detention without trail ,amongst other violations of civil liberties and democratic rights” in South Africa. When I lived there during this time many opponents of Apartheid where labelled as terrorists only to become here’s when the regime collapsed. How much effort has been exerted into objectively understanding the conflict in the Middle East and what the consequences of our involvement are? Over the last ten years or so the cost in lives and billions of dollars in military expenditures is staggering. Worse yet is the lack of any positive tangible results. Indeed now we are paying with our liberty too.
have some of u commenting on the bill actually read it? someone mentioned george orwell i think some of you hope for such scenarios so u could say told u so but when it happens close to home you will be the first to say the gov aka harper didnt do enough
We don’t need this idiot bill. We already know our terrorists–, international corporations (incl. Monsanto, Big Oil, Walmart and the rest of the filthy rich, and their bought tool, Harper.
This nothing more than fear mongering to those who are too lazy to actually read the bill and come to their own conclusions. Sheple!!! Isn’t odd that there are no direct quotes or links to the sections of the bill you “should” be worried about…laughable to say the least. Who are these Lawyers you speak of? There are millions of Lawyers in Canada and think that the opinion of a fe . Who in the heck trusts Lawyers anyhow? Anyone can make a website and give themselves a bunch of fancy letters after their name and blog…just say,n. Read the bill for yourself and you’ll see the fear mongering and paranoia set forth in articles like these. You still have the right for LAWFUL assembly and protest, and your privacy is still ensured under the CND privacy act. Etc
Even communications such as this one, presented here on FaceBook, could be construed as communications that threaten the “security” of Canada. A Bill designed to stifle criticism. Bad from conception.
When an individual kills a soldier standing guard at Ottawa’s War Memorial on Remembrance Day and then enters Canadian Parliament by the front foot armed with a loaded carbine to shoot people, it shows our country cares more about Civil Liberties than its own safety. National Security should prevail over Civil Liberties, not the other way around.
C-51 may be not perfect but It sure is better than nothing.
We are so blessed/lucky to live here. Help us be the best by living by the rules or helping to make better ones if necessary.
I absolutely agree. This is the only way our government can make a difference without shutting down borders
I know there has been acts of terrorism on our land. These actions need to be prevented but not with the same response as our neighbors to the south. We do not want to live in a country were we can be searched on grounds of mere suspicion or detain on pure suspicion. Letting the government with more excess to our personal live give the government too much power .As we all know that much power leads to corruption Let us use media and social media to tell the government we will not stand by and watch are freedoms taken away. Once there are gone the will be gone forever
legislation that threatens in many ways..it’s not the Canadian way..and to quote PMSH.. ” it’s not the way we do things in Canada”..
I am a Canadian citizen who has lived in the land of the free for 16 years now and I will tell you that it is anything but the land of the free. All of the freedom guaranteed by the US constitution have been eroded to the point that there is an unspoken rule of shoot first and ask questions later. The government’s right to do as it pleases supersedes the individual’s right to freedom. If that is what you want for Canada, do nothing.
the problem is not so much harper , it is way deeper than that.IT could be anyone else put in that situation of prime minister and has been wounded in his childhood. the fear manifest as harper right now but most of canadian are blindly participating with great trained efficiency, to a pathological socio-economico- political structures. the problem is tructural and bad design not in harmony of the laws of nature out side and inside of the human species. a structure that award a few at the expense of many is so much worse than any terrorist actions at alienating the lives of millions. to see that you have to think beyond |”I am Canadian” . when being Canadian means acting on behalf of a few at the expense of many especially in far away lands. As long I am better off my neighbour I don’t see how I am ripped off and I try to protect my privilege against the more deprived . this bill is one more pillar to reinforce the big log in Canadian’s eyes so they are blind to their own and other’s demise. And as we all know historically and today the most “terrorist” of all are the native people who stand for respect and love to the land.
why is that , that it is the least matured people ( the ones who have not expanded their sense of self beyond the ego self)who are the ones most rewarded in that system. who this system is serving, really! what does it takes to mature people fully? wild nature! what happen when people stay immature? they destroy nature inside and out! no bill can prevent people to become terrorist toward their true nature. Love can’t be taught in the best educational institutions. when you have never been exposed to the laws of nature and resolved them in your own heart, you create your own imaginary predator/prey drama.
Ah well what are you gonna do? Lol shut up and get back to work so you can consume more and let your masters decide your fates Mwahahaha
Bill C-51 isn’t about protecting Canadians; it’s about distracting us from the reality of Harper’s complete failure to properly manage the economy while imposing his rather bizarre ideology and driving the nation deep into debt. It’s about the election, and waving a niqab in our faces appeals to the racists, and others who vote for him. There are already enough tools available to deal with terrorists.
Benjamin Franklin was right: “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Harper wants to deprive us of both; he wants total control. If he gets another term, the door to his office will once again slam shut and silence descend while he cooks the books and continues to find ways to dismantle his arch-enemy’s handiwork, The Charter of Rights & Freedoms.
Why? Because he knows he hasn’t been looking after Canadians. Stephen Harper wants to be protected from Canadians; but what Canadians need is protection from Stephen Harper.
I was contemplating voting Liberal after years of voting Conservative, but because of the undemocratic actions by Stephen Harper, but Justin Trudeau supported this Bill, and saying he would make changes to it IF he was elected as PM, so that says to me, he agrees with this draconian legislation, therefore, he will not get my support in October, and instead I will vote NDP, in Burnaby, BC. I guess it’s true, Justin Trudeau is just not up to the job in helping to make the Conservatives accountable to Canadians.
This is not the same country anymore I immigrated to nine years ago. In October I will vote NDP to make sure we get a different government.
Go out and vote, before it is too late. Once freedom is gone, it is gone.
let me get this straight..war on terror..so lets make war on Hollywood for the likes of Alfred Hitchcock,frankenstien , pulp fiction. get it ?
its the same as saying lets make LETS MAKE WAR ON FEAR. I have women in my family and sometimes the bogey comes round and like all decent men I make the bogey man go away…I was attacked once by three guys in whistler as I walked with a woman.I was maced and assalted. thing is im used to fear, logging, fishing, skiing, martial arts. I won the battle and the heroine was spared..the three guys were from the sacrameto ski club.after the fact,the police were brought in and we sent our American brothers back home..no hard feelings wish them well.
now no amount of law or big brother would have stopped the attack.the terror was temporary and life goes on.I did not propose that we invade California because I felt insulted or want a disproportionate amount of justice to and act of nothing more than 10 minutes long..who said an eye for an eye and we all go blind..love my country dearly especially before 911..since then the world I loved has morphed into a moral and ethical soup with no spices.kids at 15 in 2000 are now 30 and they’ve been hearing war on terror all along..my guess is nobody is that scared and if anything the conversation around it is now boring.