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Canada's Anti-Terrorism
Bill Raises Concerns Over Rights
CBC News
© 2001 CBC All Rights Reserved
10-24-1

OTTAWA - Two senior parliamentary officers issued warnings Tuesday about the sweeping new powers in Canada's proposed anti-terrorism bill.
 
Privacy Commisioner George Radwanski told MPs that Bill C-36 would allow government to suspend the Privacy Act in the name of national security.
 
George Radwanski
 
"This law as written could permit the creation for instance of a Big Brother file on every Canadian," said Radwanski. "It could permit government to disclose any information about you to anybody it wants your employer, your insurer, you name it."
 
Information Commissioner John Reid warned senators that Bill C-36 would prevent his office from challenging excessive government secrecy.
 
Reid said Ottawa wants the power to suspend the Access to Information Act. He said Canada is the only Western government to make such a drastic proposal.
 
John Reid
 
"In point of fact, from what our allies our doing, they are not making changes to their access to information or freedom of information pieces of legislation. Only Canada is," Reid said.
 
Senators and MPs are shifting the focus of their debates on the anti-terrorism bill.
 
Until now, they've focused on new police powers, such as allowing suspects to be arrested without a warrant or criminalizing participation in a new list of terrorist groups.
 
On Tuesday, the committees began considering the impact on the rights of Canadians.
 
Conservative MP Peter MacKay believes the justice minister would have the power to keep crucial decisions from proper review indefinitely.
 
Justice Minister Anne McLellan tried to reassure the House. "The power given to the Attorney General to issue a certificate is a limited one for very limited purposes."
 
But the privacy commissioner doesn't see it that way. "It gives the minister unlimited power, in unlimited circumstances," said Radwanski.
 
Keith Coulter, chief of the secretive Canadian Security Establishment, told a Commons committee there is also a need for expanded powers to listen in on domestic communications.
 
Since the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S., Ottawa gave the CSE a one-time installment of $37 million to upgrade its technology for eavesdropping on electronic communications.
 
CSE's mandate will soon be expanded to monitoring communications that originate or end in Canada. It currently can eavesdrop only on foreign communication.
 
Defence Minister Art Eggleton told the committee that Canada's key partners in collecting and sharing communications intelligence the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand already have the powers to tap domestic communications.
 
"If we're to make a meaningful contribution to the international campaign against terrorism, we must ensure that our own legal framework is aligned with theirs," said Eggleton.
 
Some MPs were uncomfortable with the lack of judicial authority needed for CSE to eavesdrop. The RCMP and CSIS both require a judge's approval to wiretap.
 
 
Written by CBC News Online staff http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2001/10/23/anti_terrorism011023



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