The Cautionary Tale of Bill C-51
If you missed it, here's a quick primer on C-51.
On June 9, 2015, the Senate passed Bill C-51 into law, ignoring hundreds of
thousands of Canadians and the country's top privacy experts who were all
adamantly opposed.
Let's look at how Stephen Harper handled Bill C-51. What convinced him
to proceed despite the concerns of so many people?
Was he persuaded by the input of experts, as the Liberal government
was? After the Al-Qaeda attacks in 2001, the government heard
80 expert witnesses at 19 committee hearings before they passed an
amended version of the anti-terrorism bill into law.
You're kidding, right?
No, that's not the way it happened. Stephen Harper really, really wanted
Bill C-51, knowing he would be able to violate Canadians' privacy and
security as no other Prime Minister ever had.
With the Majority Rulers gang behind him, Harper can do whatever he wants
- that's why he keeps them so tightly controlled. In the House of Commons,
there was no point talking about it, and he simply shut down the irritating debate.
To avoid a public revolt, the PM grudgingly allowed four committee meetings
(vs. the 19 the Liberals considered necessary for earlier anti-terrorism legislation.
...just reminding you). Even then, there were ultimately only three meetings
for public input thanks to Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and Justice Minister
Peter MacKay.
This is an important area for both these guys. They knew they didn't want to hear
all the negative stuff that would be laid out by the people who came to
oppose the bill. So they decided to use up all the time praising the bill.
So much for consultation. The Majority Rulers hadn't really planned to
listen anyway. Their Great Leader wanted C-51, and that was that.
No opposition today, thanks.
PSM Blaney simply wrote off the many experienced and highly regarded
professionals who opposed C-51. They were only "so-called experts",
after all.
Really? "So-Called" ?
Hmmm.... See for yourself who opposed Bill C-51. Do you think
they're fakes?
- 4 former Conservative and Liberal Prime Ministers,
- 60 Canadian business leaders,
- The federal Privacy Commissioner,
- 12 provincial and territorial Privacy Commissioners
(that's all of them except for New Brunswick), - More than 100 law professors, who wrote to MPs explaining the
true nature of the bill - that allows unprecedented infringements
on our rights and privacy, while fighting real terrorism becomes
more difficult, - The Assembly of First Nations,
- Amnesty International and many other organizations, and
- 274,822 Canadian citizens who formally petitioned the government
to kill Bill C-51.
That's not how Canadians make laws.
To answer the initial question, no, that "so-called" process wasn't meant to
ensure good legislation, and the law is not designed to keep Canadians secure.
Stephen Harper's agenda is entirely different, and we should be afraid.