News from ICLMG

ICLMG submits brief on border and immigration bill C-12 to the Immigration committee

ICLMG submitted a short brief on the problematic Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. Read the full brief below and please take action to stop C-12:

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ICLMG has observed with deep concern the growing securitization of the Canadian border based on the framing of migrants and refugees as a national security threat even when evidence does not support such claims, as well as pressure from the United States for Canada to further align and integrate its border security with their own, to the detriment of civil liberties protections in Canada.

In June 2025, the ICLMG joined more than 300 other civil society organizations in speaking out over the dangers of Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, including the severe harms to fundamental rights if many of the provisions in Bill C-2 were adopted. The introduction of Bill C-12 failed to alleviate these concerns, particularly by replicating changes to Canada’s immigration and refugee regime included in Bill C-2.

We continue to join others in calling for both C-2 and C-12 to be withdrawn in favor of consultations and, if warranted, the introduction of targeted legislation that upholds and protects fundamental rights.

Below we outline specific areas of concern with Bill C-12. Continue reading →

Stop C-9: ICLMG testifies at the Justice committee

On October 30, 2025, ICLMG’s National Coordinator Tim McSorley testified on behalf of the coalition, opposing Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, regarding concerns over the criminalization of peaceful protest and restriction of free speech. You can read the transcription below.

We also urge you to please take action to stop Bill C-9:

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TRANSCRIPT

Thank you, for the invitation to appear today.

I am here on behalf of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, a coalition of 45 Canadian organizations from a broad range of sectors. ICLMG was founded in 2002 to serve as a watchdog around the impacts of Canada’s national security and anti-terrorism laws on civil liberties.

Our coalition has observed with distress the increase in hate-based violence across Canada over the past several years.

We believe that greater measures must be taken to address instances of hate-based violence. But such measures must be targeted and specific, and ensure that they do not unduly impact civil liberties or Charter rights, including of those who the measures are ostensibly meant to protect.

Unfortunately, several measures in Bill C-9 fail that test. We share the concerns of the 37 other signatories of an open letter, led by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, that pointed to detailed and substantial problems in Bill C-9, and ultimately called for it to be withdrawn.

While we share overall concerns expressed by our colleagues, today I would like to focus on one particular area of the bill. Continue reading →

Bill C-12’s introduction solves none of Bill C-2’s problems

Organizations across sectors reiterate call for complete withdrawal of both bills

OTTAWA, October 9, 2025 — A broad coalition of civil liberties, data privacy, refugee and migrant rights, and gender justice organizations strongly opposes the government’s introduction of Bill C-12, which seeks to fast track, rather than address, many aspects of Bill C-2’s myriad problems. Civil society organizations are reiterating their call for a full withdrawal of both bills, including the egregious expansion of surveillance powers that remain in Bill C-2, and the immigration provisions that restrict access to protection and expand mass status-cancellation now included in Bill C-12.

“Bill C-12 does not fix Bill C-2; it fast tracks some of the most egregious aspects, while still moving forward with the rest,” said Tim McSorley, national coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG). “Our government has made it abundantly clear that they will continue to fight for every privacy-violating measure Bill C-2 still contains, and are only introducing Bill C-12 to get restrictions on migrant and refugee rights adopted sooner.”

“The story of this legislative package is the same today as it was on day one of Bill C-2’s introduction; it’s about pleasing President Trump,” said Matt Hatfield, Executive Director of OpenMedia. “Canadians reject this multi-layered concession of our rights and freedoms to American pressure, and we expect lawmakers to resoundingly vote against both bills.”

In June 2025, over 300 organizations—including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the BC Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Labour Congress, the United Church of Canada, the Migrant Rights Network, the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, OpenMedia, Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, la Ligue des droits et libertés, HIV Legal Network, Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, Refugee Lawyers Association, Climate Action Network Canada, the Centre for Free Expression, the Canadian Muslim Lawyers’ Association and the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council—came together to call for a full withdrawal of Bill C-2. Across sectors, concerned organizations and experts have condemned the bill, including legal scholars, migrant and refugee rights organizations, advocates against gender-based violence, immigrant services organizations, and national and international cybersecurity experts.

Continue reading →