The Canadian prime minister has made his case for the government’s latest attempt to bolster anti-terror powers, and for intelligence and law enforcement agencies on Friday. The new powers, once they become law, would give the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) the power not only to monitor the activities of terror suspects but also directly intervene to disrupt them.
In practice, this would allow the Canadian spy agency to take direct action in advance – such as canceling plane reservations of jihadists trying to go to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State (IS), as well as blocking any financial transactions that may be linked to terrorist activity. They will also be allowed to detain someone for up to seven days without charge if they suspect they are involved in terrorism.
Law enforcement agencies will be able to detain suspects on suspicion that a terrorist act "may” be carried out, instead of the current "will” be carried out, thus lowering the standard for an arrest.
“Violent jihadism is not just a danger somewhere else. It seeks to harm us here in Canada — in our cities and in our neighborhoods, through horrific acts, like deliberately driving a car at a defenseless man or shooting a soldier in the back as he stands on guard at a War Memorial,” Stephen Harper told the crowd at Richmond Hill Community Center, Ontario.
Harper made the announcement in response to two recent terror attacks. In October, a man thought to be inspired by ISIS ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec before he was shot dead. Two days later, a gunman killed another soldier at the National War Memorial and then stormed parliament before he was killed.
Under current Canadian laws and practice, enforcement operations are carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which the government says results in costly delays and could stop the CSIS spy agency from quickly stopping an imminent attack.
There is no definition of "to disrupt" in the legislation, leaving it open to interpretation, but it is believed the agency would use that power to stop communication between the suspected subjects or hinder their travel plans.
The power to arrest Canadian citizens, however, would remain the domain of the RCMP and the local police, and would not be given to the CSIS. The new law would also be accompanied by increased oversight, and the CSIS would have to gain approval from the courts before taking any action.
The proposed bill would also include giving judges the power to seize “terrorist propaganda” and would make it a crime to “knowingly advocate or promote the commission of terrorist offences.” It would also allow for more court proceedings to be sealed.
Harper Conservatives Propose Massive New Powers for Canada's Spy Agency Today #CSIS #cdnpolihttp://ift.tt/165FEw3
— Jim Harris (@JimHarris) January 30, 2015
Civil liberties organizations have expressed their concern that the bill will have a negative impact on freedom of speech.
“This radical expansion of national security powers is not sound security policy and presents a real danger to Canadians. Criminalizing people's words and thoughts is misguided and won't make Canadians any safer," Micheal Vonn, policy director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, warned in a news release issued shortly after the bill was made public.
But Harper has said he does not see how increased security can affect freedom of speech, and that violent jihadism “is not a human right.”
“Every time we talk about security, they suggest that somehow, our freedoms are threatened. I think Canadians understand that their freedom and their security more often than not go hand and hand. Canadians expect us to do both, we are doing both, and we do not buy the argument that every time you protect Canadians, you take away their liberties,” he said.
The leader of the New Democrats, Tom Mulcair, said that his party hadn’t decided whether to support the bill or not and that the appropriate questions will be asked in parliament, although he appeared to lean towards the prime minister’s thinking, saying that Canada is capable of protecting its rights and security.
The passage of the bill into law is virtually guaranteed, as Harper's Conservative party has a majority in parliament.
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