Full House for Anti-Terror Legislation Meeting
BC Civil Liberties Association executive Director Josh Paterson address gathering at CNC – photo 250News
Prince George, B.C. – A capacity crowd at the College of New Caledonia lecture theatre last evening as folks waited to hear from the BC Civil Liberties Association on the impact of the new anti-terror legislation being introduced by the Harper government.The meeting was organized by the Stand Up for the North Committee, saying the legislation is being “rammed through parliament by the Government.”
Spokesperson Peter Ewart says there are concerns as the new legislation could put environmentalists, First Nations, unions, or anyone who opposes the government under scrutiny, or worse, jail. He said legislation is based on the fear of terrorist activity. “Fear can be a powerful thing” said Ewart, “indeed fear is the icy breath of the frozen police state” adding there is a ” fear bubble” being created over terrorism, “Is it being based on facts? In my opinion, it is not.” said Ewart. He says compared to other forms of crime, terrorism acts remain a small portion of criminal activity in Canada.
It is his opinion the anti-terror legislation “undermines our fundamental rights as Canadians.” Ewart says the legislation could intimidate Canadians into not standing up for their rights. He says there is a myth that we must give up some of our rights in order to have security, but he argues “The stronger our rights, the stronger our security.”
Josh Paterson, the Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, says people are being spied upon now, “in the last two years, the Government has brought in three different laws to increase the powers of our spy agency.” He said on the day Nathan Cirillo was gunned down in front of the Parliament buildings, the Government was preparing to introduce Bill C-41 which would have given more powers to CSIS. He said that evening, the Prime Minister stood up and said there was a need for new laws, even though there was no clear evidence of what had happened earlier in the day. And that was the spark for Bill C-51 “It is going to dramatically expand the powers of Canada’s spy agencies” said Paterson, even though there is no evidence that would justify the new law “We say that’s a terrible way to make new laws, to make new policy.”
“We in B.C. were the very first ones to cry foul about this Bill” says Paterson. “This week we are going to be in Ottawa to testify against this Bill.”
There will be 9 days of hearings, which Paterson says for the kind of changes proposed is not long at all. He says the Bill poses a real threat to people of colour, Muslim Canadians and First Nations.
Paterson outlined what the BC Civil Liberties Association views as a few of the main planks of the bill:
- CSIS: Gives additional powers to CSIS to reduce threats by taking measures, but doesn’t outline what those measures may be.
- Makes criminals of people who “promote” terrorism but the definition of terrorism is too broad, such as interrupting critical infrastructure that impacts Canada’s economy
- The Bill will make it easier to throw people in jail under the power of “preventive detention” without any evidence of criminal activity or planned criminal activity and length of detention will be doubled from 3 days to 6.
- Proposes new legislation on information sharing. Says it will gut the provision of the privacy act, which protects people from information being shared with other departments in government and anyone else who wants it.
“This bill , is really problematic, It is an unprecedented attack on the rights of the people in this country, on our freedoms, our privacy without one shred of justification that any of it will increase our security.” He says the additional issue is that there is no oversight to see if people are complying with the law. In short, Paterson says the powers are too much, that the bill poses a huge threat to democracy.
Comments
GOD, about time we got a prime minister with some kahunas
Harper must have thought of this one while he was holed up in the closet protected by the women and old men barricading the door on that fateful day.
Meanwhile Harper and the people in his government will go out of their way to promote war with Russia… a meat grinder for your children if they get their lethal aid rolling start to a war Europe wants no part of.
Under Harper Canada has agreed to share all intelligence on terrorism with Israel. Israel many believe is the worlds foremost terrorist state being the operational center for 9/11 and the logistics behind isis… to say nothing of the apartheid game theory they pass for state policy. Only last week Iraq was abuzz from the Iraqi army arrest of four Americans that were working with isis at an isis headquarters… three of which held duel Israeli/American citizenship. On the same day Canadian solders on the front line were confused for more American facilitators of isis resulting in the loss of one soldiers life. And then only yesterday the foreign minister of Israel publicly stated that any Arab Israeli that is not loyal to Israel should have their head cut off… some kind of friend and ally Canada has to ‘share our intel with’ on all of the dark secrets that can be dug up on Canadian political dissenters.
So we have the definition of a chicken hawk leading from a closet elected by a minority hyping the terror threat to install an unaccountable police state infrastructure in our country to protect the federal government in power…..
When he comes out of that other closet I will agree with you ice.
well said Eagleone
Harper has taken us from a peace-keeping nation to a war-mongering one. Not the Canada I grew up in.
You really do hate the state of Israel don’t you Eagleone? Almost as much as you hate the current administration.
Only about a month ago we let a guy go out into the streets for cutting the head off another Canadian and eating parts of his body because he is now rehabilitated and taking his meds. Sounds like some of our laws do need a makeover.
Eagleone and those who agree with him take the line of least resistance, ie; blame Harper and the Conservatives for all the problems in Canada. They rarely take the time to look at the facts, which is that Harper has only had a majority Government in the past 4 years, and any legislation passed prior to that had to have some support from other parties,.
In order for Harper and the Conservatives to be responsible for all the problems that Eagleone blames them for, he would have had to be working 24/7/365 for four years and even then he wouldn’t get it done.
So how does he manage to go to hockey games, public events, travel around the Country, and the World, and still find the time to run the National Conspiracy. Hmmmmm.
Perhaps the forum last night should have invited one of our Members of Parliament, or someone who supported the legislation, in order for the meeting to have some balance. Most of those in attendance would not be Government supporters, and in my opinion that makes the forum biased.
Make no mistake there is a problem with terrorism in Canada. Terrorism should not be considered in the same light as other criminal activities.
Terrorists have specific goals in mind, and work towards those goals. Criminals spend most of their time in jail, or in court. Two different things altogether.
The Government and opposition are presently fine tuning this legislation, and we will see what comes out of that. We also have a great chance to throw the Government out of power this year if we disagree with its policies. Will we do that?? Probably not. Those opposed to Harper will say that those who voted for him were stupid and should have know better.
An average of four people die hitting moose in BC every year. In Canada dozens. We don’t need a Daddy protector with big cajonas, we need citizens to grow a set. Really, are all Conservatives such nervous nellies that need a daddy figure? And your choice of a father figure would give Freud fits. Stop watching CNN, live your life, and stop letting politicians railroad you with bogeymen like ISIS.
ISIS will be gone within the year. Harpers police state will be with you for the rest of your lives.
Ben Franklin got it right over 200 years ago. ”People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.”
Want some proof that Harper wants ISIS to last as long as possible, or at least until the next elections? The Canadian air force did not help the Iraqis recapture Tikrit. They stood by while the Iranians helped the Iraqis succeed in defeating ISIS. We don’t need to be there, our 100 troops and 5? planes are a token effort that mean nothing to the war effort there, but allow Harper to portray himself as leader/guide/Fuhrer.
Really all you Cissy Conservatives are tax paying dupes to a military adventure that is all about getting Harper re-elected. You are all just useful idiots.
“The bleeding hearts and the artists, make their stand”
Ice, Slinky, Palopu and Interceptor
You have all jumped on the “Sissy Conservatives for Steven” bandwagon.
And let us not forget how Liberal Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau declared the war measures act to deal with a localized terrorist problem in Quebec. He is the only Prime Minister to have done so in peace time. So, if you’re going to call Harper the Fuhrer, really, he’s just the mini-fuhrer because the much beloved Trudeau really did do what you all fear, whereas Harper is at least going through the formality of using Parliament, a step Trudeau skipped.
And well put Palopu, the guy has only had a majority for 3.5 years and has somehow managed to destroy Canada in that short time, whereas much of the legislation criticized, was passed with the help of one of the opposition parties.
I put this to NDP and Liberal supporters. If Harper is truly destroying Canada, why is it, in the interest of saving the country from “the fuhrer”, you two parties cannot put aside your differences, amalgamate for the good of the country, and defeat this evil force. You consistently point out he was elected without a majority of the population – and that’s because of vote splitting, because you two both present a left of center choice. Are you so different than it’s worth letting Harper destroy Canada? Give Canadians a left a center choice vs a “extreme right wing choice”, and see how it turns out. Or is it that Tom Mulcair and Justin can’t give up the chance to be the P.M.
All signs point to a Liberal minority government. But I am sure all the Conservatives will whine about a”coalition” defeating democracy.
AW HERBSTER you hurt my feelings. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN CHEWIN ON??? I can just envision TRUDEAU on stage with world leaders doin his flip- flop.PRAISE the herb, spouting out, remember the three cardinal rules,PUFF…PUFF…PASS.YA RIGHT just what CANADA needs in these tumultuous times. WE are being confronted by a religious race that considers us infidels wants us dead annihilate the world, cutting off the heads of umpteen dozens of innocent victims while we wait sitting idle and bury our heads in the sand??? I THINK NOT!!! DONT for one moment think that this idealism wont come to NORTH AMERICA because its already here.
Herbster. You are a hoot. For sure you do not clutter your brain with facts, and deal mostly in the world of make believe.
Come out from under your mushroom and live in the real world for a while. Enjoy the sunshine,.
Harper is probably the best (certainly one of the best) Prime Ministers this Country has ever had. The inability of you and some others to recognize this, speaks volumes to how out of tune you are to the real world.
Basically you are suffering from an extreme case of **LOSERMANIA**. That’s where you lose a number of elections in a row, and are so depressed, and disillusioned that you retreat into the blame game, and blame everyone and everything for your sad state of affairs.
Interesting about how both Palopu and Ice really look for a strong leader. Harper knows this about you Conservatives, and is leading you down the garden path. He is a politician trying to get reelected, he is certainly not the best PM Canada has ever had! You both desperately need to be on the “winning” team, and are not shy about prostituting your individual rights to do so.
Conservatism is not so much a political movement, but a psychological pathology, that thankfully the majority of Canadians do not suffer from.
Ice you should really stop freaking out about ISIS, and look into getting some Xanax! Palopu, what happens when you look at polls? How do you square the circle that the majority of Canadians do not share your lofty view of Harper? “The inability of you and some others to recognize this, speaks volumes to how out of tune you are to the real world!”
herbster, you keep on voting for the likes of Trudeau and Mulcair! Let’s add Dix and now Horgan to the mix!
How’s that been working out for you??
How was the big gathering last night? Did all of you bleeding heart die-hard socialists hug each other and sing Kumbaha?? Yeah, like that will fix our problems! NOT!!
Hart Guy
do you really think Harper can fix your problems?
Herbster. Do the math. The majority of people did not vote for the Liberals, or the NDP, or the Greens. So quit adding all the other parties together to get your majority.
Harper got the majority of seats in Parliament, and formed the Government, that’s the way politics works in Canada. Get used to the idea, unless you have a plan to change how things work, accept the fact that your team lost.
All you have to do in the next election is elect a Liberal or NDP Government and you on your way. Lots of luck with that.
Palopu
The majority of people did not vote for the Conservatives. They got 38.9% of the vote cast last election. They will get less this election. Lots of luck with that!
Watching the history channel on how Hitler got started and how he fooled the masses seems to be history repeating itself, of what is now happening to Canada.
doneright – the comparison really isn’t similar. Germany was in a major recession caused by many factors, including being compelled to pay for the WWI that they had lost. Hitler identified the Jews as an ethnic group (who were also extremely wealthy) as a whipping boy for all their problems – and it was easy to do, because people generally resent the 1% who are affluent – and in some respects, financed WWII with wealth taken from the Jews.
Canada is not currently in a recession. Harper seems to have an issue with Islam, which as a religion, does have the conversion or extermination of the infidel as a stated goal – and the infidel – well, that’s a non-muslim. The Jewish religion had no stated goal – unless you consider the Old Testament binding on them today, but there weren’t any Jewish extremists running around in the 30’s saying death to all Catholics.
Muslims as a group in this country are relatively impoverished, many of them being refugees, vs the wealthy Jews Hitler went after.
That said, I do believe Harper is being disingenuous and using the Muslim’s as a way to get to his goal. The only way to stop him, I stated above, a NDP/Liberal coalition in the next election. If the NDP and Liberals are not willing to join forces to stop this “mad man”, then we deserve what we get.
Awesome, a Pink Floyd reference in a political debate!! Roger Waters would be pleased ;)
The Conservative party is also a comfy home for bigots . MP John Williamson has driven that fact home .
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 @ 7:27 AM by notfromhere
well said Eagleone
Harper has taken us from a peace-keeping nation to a war-mongering one. Not the Canada I grew up
…………………………..
What is with you people are you direct decedent’s of Rip Van Winkle?
The Canada we knew ceased when the AIR India flight with All Canadians aboard was blown out of the sky.
You do remember who was in power than don’t and no it wasn’t Harper…..
“That said, I do believe Harper is being disingenuous and using the Muslim’s as a way to get to his goal”
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Is it disingenuous or is it a reflection of his true feelings? The more I hear conservative MP’s say stuff like “it makes no sense to pay “whities” to stay home while companies bring in “brown people” as temporary foreign workers” or I hear the PM imply that Muslims are “anti-woman” (strange, the Muslim women I interact with on a daily basis seem quite happy), the more I tend to believe that it’s simply a case of the good ole Reform Party roots coming out. Any progressive conservatives that are actually left in that party must be sick to their stomach when they hear this type of crap.
If con mp John Williamson was a lib last week , he would not be one this week . His arse would be sporting a fresh boot print from a leader that acts . Justin would never tolerate this creature .
Seems to be no end to the farcical comments about Harper and the Conservatives.
All I can say to the losers, is try again in the next election. Do your best with the **Kid** and Mulcair, and when you once again find yourself sitting on the outside looking in, take a few moments to reflect on why you lost.
My sense is that most posters on this site do not belong to a Political Party let alone would do anything like giving their time and money to the Party of their choice to try and get them elected.
Spending your time as Keyboard Kowboys, doesn’t get the job done.
Herbster. I told you to do the math, however seems not only do you have difficulty with math, you also have difficulty reading.
NO single party has a majority of the votes. Adding all the other parties to get a majority over the Conservatives just doesn’t cut it.
Have a nice day.
Harper is following the American lead. Use fear to get re-elected. It’s his foreign policy that has got us into this mess in the first place.
So I guess if its fear, we should ask the question. Who’s afraid????
@ Ataloss, re your comment:
“His arse would be sporting a fresh boot print from a leader that acts. Justin would never tolerate this creature.”
Ok, so you have got to be kidding, right??
Justin is a pathetic wishy washy flip-flopping wimp who wouldn’t take a stand on anything! At best, instead of kicking butt, he would probably try to give a hug!
Trudeau? A leader? A leader of this country?? What a ridiculous thought!
There is no comparison between the War Measures Act and Bill C51. When the War Measures act was used we had our armed forces keeping law and order. Bill C51 is more about civil obedience and using sledge hammer to enforce it.
Cheers
Retired 02 best you research about what said in regard to Measures Act and Bill C51. I could explain to you , but your more than old enough to do your own research, so hop to it as time is going time.
Look up the Riot Act at the same time if you want to see how fast you can end up in jail in this Country.
Hartguy, no I’m not kidding . Two women NDP MPs could not get results from Mulcair to address horrific sexual abuse by two liberal MPs . They didn’t last days and were gone . Williamson is still sitting at the pleasure of his highness , harper . Kind of makes my skin crawl . Trudeau would not tolerate this person . Would you?
Ataloss, Trudeau would not tolerate this person?? You know that for a fact because….because everything that Trudeau says is a fact???? With Trudeau, his facts seem to change on a daily basis, change to satisfy whatever situation, objection or forum he finds himself in!
Ataloss, Willaimson’s comments were definitely pathetic, regardless of how he prefaced them, and his apology is too little too late. Being expelled from Caucus would seem the best course of action.
While you and I can agree on that, I find it very curious that you would state:
“The Conservative party is also a comfy home for bigots. MP John Williamson has driven that fact home.”
Wow Ataloss!! I am sure that the numerous members of Caucus AND the Conservative Party who have condemned Williamson would take you to task for your comment!
Perhaps you need to apologize to Devinder Shory, who represents a Calgary riding. He calls New Brunswick MP John Williamson’s comments racist and says he is outraged.
Deepak Obhrai, another Calgary Conservative, used Twitter to criticize Williamson, saying years of outreach work with ethnic communities had gone down the drain as a result of the comment.
I am sure that both of these members would be concerned about you referring to them as bigots!!
Ataloss, you hold yourself out as “holier than thou” and yet you freely condemn an entire group of people, the vast majority of which you will never ever meet and many who are part of whatever ethnicity you wish to defend??
Way to go!! You appear to be no better than MP John Williamson, a man that you were so quick to condemn! You should be so proud!!
HG . This is not about me or those that have and or would condem bigotry . This is about him still sitting . Get over it . Steve approves , that’s the message . It didn’t take trudeau too long figure out what is right or wrong .
Ataloss, I hope that you understand that my comments, although a bit harsh, were a bit reactionary to your previous rather harsh comments!
You suggested that “If con mp John Williamson was a lib last week , he would not be one this week . His arse would be sporting a fresh boot print from a leader that acts . Justin would never tolerate this creature.”
Are you suggesting that a violent act, a boot print to the arse from Justin is acceptable? Are we to tolerate violent acts now?
You also state an ENTIRE group of people, the entire Conservative Party is a comfy home for bigots!
Sorry Ataloss, but you sound a bit like a bigot, and a bigot who support violence as well!
Kinda makes my skin crawl!
“You also state an ENTIRE group of people, the entire Conservative Party is a comfy home for bigots!”
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No he didn’t state that, you are changing the meaning of what he said. He actually said “The Conservative party is also a comfy home for bigots”, meaning that bigots can find comfort there. The lack of action around Williamson proves that.
This is a statement that, given the reference to culture, speaks to an entire group of people:
“Why would Canadians, contrary to our own values, embrace a practice at that time that is not transparent, that is not open and frankly is rooted in a culture that is anti-women?”
What culture do you think he is referring to? Hmmm. That was PM Harper by the way . . .
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