Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Jay Aspin
Canada will table new anti-terrorism legislation tomorrow. It is designed to ensure the safety of national security.
Recently, at a North Bay peace rally, Nipissing – Timiskaming MP Jay Aspin called for the need for more security. “This kind of phenomena has come right to our shores. We were all personally involved in the Ottawa attack; the Prime Minister, my colleagues and I. We have to be more secure on Parliament Hill and as a nation.”
Aspin went on to say the Conservative government is trying to strike a balance. “We don’t want to reduce our freedom of assembly, our freedom of speech or our freedom to conduct business. We want to keep Canadians safe and secure."
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien has questions about the new security bill. The new law is expected to enhance security sharing between departments. Therrien wants the broader powers to come with enhanced transparency and oversight. The new bill will also criminalize the promotion of terrorism.
Recently it was revealed that an international surveillance project called ‘Levitation’ pulls together metadata to alert authorities to any extremist plans for harm. The countries involved, referred to as the Five Eyes, are Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Australia and New Zealand.
A poll conducted by the Privacy Commissioner showed that Canadians are more worried than ever about the loss of individual rights in the push for higher security.
Privacy Commissioner Therrien says the poll found that 90 % of Canadians are concerned, with a third of us as being very concerned about our privacy rights.
Therrien also found that seven out of ten Canadians are worried about losing the rights to their own information. The poll highlighted that 90% of Canadians want the government to be more transparent.
Therrien questions the practice of monitoring Canadians. “Is it appropriate to collect bulk information, massive surveillance with a view to identifying new threats to national security?“ Therrien says he will be keeping a close eye on the government’s thrust in looking at civilian non-suspects to find new terrorism threats.
