Ottawa Citizen – Paul Champ, of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group and a former Crown prosecutor:

The bill “confers extraordinary powers on security agency to violate the human rights of Canadians and ‘disrupt’ their lives, all in secret,” he said. “The (1977-81) McDonald Commission (into RCMP wrongdoing) called these sorts of measures ‘dirty tricks,’ but this bill goes much farther.”

“Strict controls on the activities of security intelligence agents is essential in a democracy for two critical reasons: their activities routinely intrude upon or impinge on the private lives and civil liberties of Canadians – it’s inherent to the work; and they carry out this sensitive work in almost complete secrecy.” Read more

CIBL reçoit – CIBL 101,5 La radio citoyenne de Montréal, en collaboration avec des organismes du milieu, présente une émission différente chaque semaine avec une même priorité: mieux informer le citoyen montréalais. Le premier mercredi du mois, CIBL reçoit La solidarité en action en collaboration avec Alternatives. Des membres d’Alternatives se joignent à l’équipe de CIBL pour faire la lumière sur des dossiers chauds qui mobilisent les communautés d’ici et d’ailleurs, comme l’exploitation des ressources naturelles, le réchauffement climatique, etc.

On March 4, 2015, La solidarité en action interviewed ICLMG’s Communications and Research Coordinator, Anne Dagenais Guertin, on the activities of the Communications Security Establishment of Canada (CSEC), mass surveillance and the potential dangerous impacts of Bill C-51.

Listen to the podcast, from 21:00 to 35:00:

Show’s website

From The Margins – Canada’s proposed new Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015, introduced as the now infamous Bill C-51, may be a game changer in curtailing civil liberties of those who dissent too strongly against whatever the government may deem as key to their economic strategy; in other words, it looks to target not just what most people may think of as terrorism, but move the targets beyond that range. This is the fear of indigenous communities, opponents of the fossil fuel economy, the labour movement, and many other activists, all who may be targeted by the Bill’s machinations. Concerns abound, from the proposed new powers of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (Canada’s spy agency) to violate Charter rights based on suspicions of what they deem to be terrorism / perceived activities that undermine the security of Canada … to concerns over increased powers of preemptive detention (based on suspicions of future crimes) … and on the list goes.

On this show, these are the issues that will be dissected. I have a conversation with Roch Tasse, National Coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, who will elaborate on and explain major concerns with this Bill. Following that, you’ll hear from Jim Emberger, Spokesperson for the NB Anti Shale Gas Alliance, who see themselves, other environmentalists and many dissenters in general as being targeted on account of Bill C-51 and ominous reports from the RCMP. Listen to the podcast