The federal government has introduced, and is rushing through Parliament, several bills that threaten the Charter rights and civil liberties of all people in Canada.
Our small team of two need your help to take these on!
Among these bills are:
Bill C-2, the “Strong Borders” Act, which is anti-privacy, anti-migrant and anti-refugee and will make us all less safe by:
- Allowing police and intelligence agencies warrantless access to our personal information, in violation of privacy rights.
- Granting the government the power to issue secret orders to internet service providers to modify their systems to facilitate surveillance and possibly undermine encryption, placing our data at risk.
- Allowing Canada Post to open and search our letter mail.
- And more!
Working with 300+ civil society partners, we managed to slow it down for now. However, the xenophobic provisions, based in fear-mongering around migrants and refugees, have been copied into Bill C-12, which is now being rushed through Parliament, including a committee study in which civil society groups were blocked from testifying!
Bill C-12, the “Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders” Act, will discriminate, violate the Charter and put people in danger by:
- Allowing for the mass cancellation or suspension of immigration documents and applications (ex: visas, permanent residency cards) for entire groups of people, including individuals from certain countries, based on undefined “public interest” reasons.
- Authorizing the sharing of sensitive personal and immigration information, putting people at risk in Canada and abroad.
- Blocking anyone from seeking refugee status in Canada after one year from when they entered the country—even if their home country becomes dangerous in the meantime.
- Increasing the harm arising from the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement, which abandons many refugees to the dangerous U.S. immigration system.
- Doubles down on prohibition-based drug policy that has demonstrably failed to protect public health and safety.
SAY NO MORE – I’ll donate to help the ICLMG defend rights & freedoms for all in Canada!
In keeping with its flooding the zone strategy, the Liberal government introduced another bill that will criminalize dissent, chill free speech and harm the communities that the government says it wishes to help protect:
Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, will:
- Give police discretionary powers to determine what are protesters’ intentions and which symbols are associated with listed terrorist entities – an arbitrary, due-process violating and political tool that has nothing to do with “hate” and should be abolished. It will lead to more arbitrary arrests and disruptions of peaceful assemblies.
- Increase the crackdown on Palestinian solidarity and anti-genocide protests as they, their symbols and their slogans are often falsely associated with terrorism.
- Send a chill amongst those who would otherwise take part in protests as these new broad and discretionary powers are combined with increased jail sentences.
- Remove the existing requirements for attorney general approval of laying hate propaganda charges, allowing police to make these decisions, and compounding these concerns.
To ensure the Liberal government protects our rights, we need your help!
Please click below to donate towards our work:
And please share in your networks. Thank you!
Xan & Tim