Federal Election 2021 is upon us. The outcome of this election could have a significant impact on the federal government’s approach to national security, anti-terrorism and the protection of civil liberties in Canada.
In that light, we have analyzed the various parties’ platform promises, but also their track records – which can often give an even better idea of what they will do (and not just what they say they will do). We hope it helps you to make an informed voting decision, and that you keep civil liberties in mind when you head to the polls!
Below you will find:
1. Party Platform Analysis
Canada’s political parties have released their platforms for the 2021 federal election. Below we present an analysis of some of their platform promises related to anti-terrorism, national security and civil liberties.
While the parties make several promises, overall the platforms for this election lack details. For example:
- While establishing a dedicated review body for the Canada Border Services Agency has been a specific point in several party platforms in the past, it is absent from all but the Green Party platform in this election (the NDP promises greater oversight of security agencies, but does not mention CBSA).
- Canada’s courts have found CSIS to have lied and mislead judges in applying for warrants, but the issue is not raised by a single party.
- Revelations of unregulated use of facial recognition technology by the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies have highlighted the need for new powers for the Privacy Commissioner and reviews to the Privacy Act, but there are few promises – and even less specific – in party platforms.
- Canada’s immigration laws are in deep need of reform. Tools like security certificates and rules around security inadmissibility have resulted in individuals – many of whom are fleeing political persecution or have been unfairly labeled a security threat – facing deportation to jurisdictions where they face the threat of grave human rights violations. For example, Mohamed Harkat continues to face deportation to Algeria where he would face imprisonment and torture because of a 19-year-old security certificate, despite having never been charged let alone found guilty of a crime.
While we do not give a grade to the platforms or the parties overall, we hope our analysis helps in making an informed decision when voting in the 2021 federal election.
Liberal Party of Canada
| Platform promise | ICLMG’s take |
| We will move forward on legislation that will implement the Digital Charter, strengthen privacy protections for consumers, and provide a clear set of rules that ensure fair competition in the online marketplace. | The Liberal government introduced, but did not pass, Bill C-11, which would have implemented aspects of the Digital Charter. While there were positive developments in that bill, including regulations on algorithms and AI, and strong powers for the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in regards to the private sector, it fell short in many important ways. Missing was the framing of privacy as a human right, clear regulations around biometrics, such as facial recognition technology, and changes to the broad grounds on which private corporations can share information with national security agencies. |
| A re-elected Liberal Government will: • Introduce legislation within its first 100 days to combat serious forms of harmful online content specifically hate speech, terrorist content, content that incites violence, child sexual abuse material and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images. This would make sure that social media platforms and other online services are held accountable for the content that they host. Our legislation will recognize the importance of freedom of expression for all Canadians and will take a balanced and targeted approach to tackle extreme and harmful speech. • Strengthen the Canada Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to more effectively combat online hate. |
It is imperative that the Canadian government address the rise in white supremacist and hate-based violence. However, the solution is not the use of current racist and rights-violating anti-terror laws and powers. The use of the Terrorist Entities List has raised deep concerns. On June 23, the Liberal government also released a proposal to address “harmful online content.” There are significant problems with this proposal, which may in fact exacerbate the stigmatization of racialized and marginalized communities. Troublingly, it also proposes creating new requirements for the automatic reporting of information to the RCMP and CSIS, as well as new warrant powers for CSIS to more easily collect information about internet users. No justification is presented for why these new anti-terrorism policies are needed. |
| A re-elected Liberal government will reform the RCMP with seven key measures: • Bring forward clear timelines for compliance with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) recommendations. […] |
While more must be done in regards to the RCMP, including an overall shift away from policing and a reallocation of resources, this is a positive proposal. Missing, though, is any mention of making the CRCC’s recommendations binding, or putting in place accountability measures that ensure compliance. New stricter deadlines for the RCMP Commissioner to respond to the CCRC’s recommendations before they can be made public are also necessary to stop years-long delays on dozens of reports. |
| Make Canada’s commitment to democracy and human rights a core strategic priority, including expanding fast and flexible support for fragile and emerging democracies, increasing Canada’s diplomatic presence in regions of strategic importance, and working more closely with democratic partners to promote open, transparent, and inclusive governance around the world. | While theoretically positive, this and other foreign affairs commitments make no mention of ending involvement in the US-led “War on Terror” or other international anti-terror initiatives that threaten lives and violate fundamental rights. |
| Expand the broad coalition of more than 65 states that have supported Canada’s initiative to condemn and eradicate the practice of arbitrary detention and advance an action plan to coordinate collective international responses to specific incidents of arbitrary detention. | While positive, it ignores Canada’s complicity in arbitrary detention and the lack of redress for those who have suffered. For example, Canadian Abousfian Abdelrazik faced arbitrary detention and torture in Sudan after being arrested at the behest of CSIS, but Canada continues to drag him through a drawn out civil suit as opposed to apologizing and providing redress. Dozens of Canadians also continue to languish in indefinite detention in camps and prisons in North Eastern Syria, including nearly two dozen children. Adults who are imprisoned may be suspected of terrorist links, but have not been tried, nor found guilty of a crime. And while Canada has advocated for the Chinese government to release Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, they have virtually ignored the case of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen Uighur rights activist imprisoned in China since 2006. |
| Increase resources available to our national security agencies to counter foreign interference and to the RCMP to protect Canadians from unacceptable surveillance, harassment, and intimidation by foreign actors. ($50M per year for 5 years, starting in 22-23; p. 80) | This promise would put more resources in the hands of the RCMP to counter foreign surveillance, but ignores urgent concerns around the legality and acceptability of RCMP surveillance. This includes the force’s use of facial recognition technology as well as a growing suite of invasive online surveillance tools that scrape various platforms for content posted by Canadians without clear regulations on what is retained and how it is processed. |
Source for Liberal Party of Canada platform 2021
Conservative Party of Canada
| Platform promise | ICLMG’s take |
| Along with preventing future pandemics, the Conservative platform refers on multiple occasions to preventing “the elevated risk of bioterrorism threats.” | We are unsure of what is meant by the reference to “elevated risk of bioterrorism threat,” particularly since this has not been publicly raised by national security agencies throughout the pandemic. It does appear to signal, though, a promise to increase the securitization of health issues and a broader use of anti-terrorism laws and powers where they do not appear warranted. The pandemic cannot be used as an excuse for the expansion of the security state. |
| Propose “establishing an entities list for criminal gangs. This would eliminate the requirement for Crown Attorneys to prove that an organization is a criminal organization and would only require the Crown to prove that the accused is a member of such an organization.” | Our experience with the Terrorist Entities List, as well as other national security related lists, has shown that the lack of transparency in the process, from start to finish, leaves it open to politicization. While a criminal gang list may be less subject to this than a terrorism list, it would only be acceptable if there is an open process around designating entities along with the possibility of mounting a full defence. |
| Appropriate Sentences for the Most Serious Crimes Canada’s Conservatives will continue the appeal against the Quebec Court of Appeal decision reducing the sentence for the Quebec City Mosque murderer. If the law under which he was sentenced is eventually struck down, we will introduce new legislation to ensure that multiple murderers face more severe sentences |
While the Quebec City Mosque shooter must face the same consequences as others for such a horrendous crime, it and other terrorism offences cannot be used as an reason to further increase incarceration and bring in a US-style system of endless consecutive or compound sentences. Double standards in sentencing – such as when we compare the sentencing of the New Brunswick shooter and the Quebec City Mosque shooter – must end, but that is an issue with regards to how judges apply the law, not in regards to whether sentencing in Canada is harsh enough. |
| Protecting Critical Infrastructure Last year’s rail blockades demonstrated the importance – and vulnerability – of the infrastructure that ties our country together. Canada’s Conservatives will amend the Criminal Code to create an offence of interference with an infrastructure facility or a public transportation system punishable by either summary conviction or indictment, depending upon the severity of the crime. |
While not explicitly a national security/anti-terrorism law, this proposal builds on previous attempts to classify protests against critical infrastructure and other forms of non-violent civil disobedience as threats to Canada’s national security. Conservative MPs, among others, have used the language of terrorism and national security to attack Indigenous land defenders and their allies. This would be a direct attack on freedom of speech and assembly. For example, a march on a busy road artery could also be seen as interfering with a public transportation system. It is deeply troubling that a political party would propose harsher punishment and new laws with the express intention of criminalizing protest around projects that have been approved without the consent of Indigenous Peoples, in violation of domestic and international law. |
| Conservatives condemn and will always oppose the dissemination of hate speech, speech that incites violence and sexually abusive material. Canada’s Conservatives will combat the growing presence of online sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and extremist groups. We believe that this can best be done by using the Criminal Code and our criminal justice system. To better protect Canadians, Canada’s Conservatives will: • Fight online incitement and hatred by clearly criminalizing statements that encourage acts of violence against other people or identifiable groups. Conservatives will also protect forms of speech, criticism, and argument that do not encourage violence. • Provide $25 million to law enforcement to allow them to follow up more rapidly and investigate online threats of violence, hate speech, sexual exploitation, human trafficking and disinformation campaigns by foreign governments or extremist groups. • Create a stronger legal duty for social media platforms to remove illegal content, such as content that incites violence. |
While the Conservative proposal does not mention terrorist content or the involvement of CSIS, it is unclear how much different their proposal would be from what the Liberal government released in June. The focus on criminalization and provision of funds to law enforcement without mention of other approaches to countering hate speech and incitement to violence raises concerns about the Conservative approach as well. |
| Mandate a Minister of National Security & Public Safety with securing Canadians from threats by addressing data and cybersecurity, information operations, threats from foreign actors against Canadian residents, extremist financing, space and surveillance, and industry and critical infrastructure.” | It is unclear why this proposal is necessary. While there have been critiques that the current Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is sprawling and could feasibly be divided into smaller, more clearly defined portfolios, this does not seem to be the proposal here. Instead, it would replace “Emergency Preparedness” with “National Security.” This would likely serve to only reframe threats to human health and safety – the ongoing and future pandemics, natural disasters and extreme climate events, etc. – as state security issues and justify greater repressive use of law enforcement and intelligence agencies as the solution. |
| Make the decisions that the current government has neglected, including updating the 2017 defence policy to the realities of a disrupted international order, investing in Canadian leadership in the Five Eyes alliance, and strengthening ties with new and traditional allies.
In cooperation with our Five Eyes allies, build Canadian capabilities to contribute to foreign intelligence – focused on closing present gaps in understanding international threats of economic coercion, digital threats, and foreign interference. |
Promises to strengthen ties with the Five Eyes (US, UK, New Zealand and Australia) and increasing contributions to foreign surveillance prioritizes greater global mass surveillance at the cost of fundamental freedoms, as revealed by Edward Snowden and continuing today. While it is important to adapt Canada’s readiness to address international threats, the Five Eyes alliance has been shown to undermine security through surveillance and pushing for the weakening of encryption. |
| To advance human rights and democracy, we will: … • Require the Minister of Foreign Affairs to table an annual report in Parliament outlining the work of the government to protect and promote human rights and democracy; … • Require the Government of Canada to maintain a public list of prisoners of conscience of particular concern, and create mechanisms by which citizens can petition to add names to that list. … |
While these are ostensibly positive, it will be important that concern over human rights is distributed equitably and that these processes not be politicized. The proposed list of prisoners of conscience, for example, could be a powerful tool but only if it is not used to recognize some prisoners and to, de facto, label others as not “true” prisoners of conscience – for examples those challenging authoritarian regimes or undemocratic states who may be targets of national security agencies or even labeled “terrorist” for political expediency. |
| Fulfill the motion adopted by Parliament and designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity. | This furthers the entrenchment and politicization of the Terrorist Entities List as a tool of foreign policy rather than for actually protecting the safety of Canadians, and has been widely criticized by experts. |
| Amend the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act so that aid dollars do not support the interests of hostile regimes. | While aid money should not support governments that violate human rights or threaten peace, this presents a deep risk of politicizing development assistance funding. We have seen how labels, including “hostile regime” and “terrorism,” have limited the provision of humanitarian aid and even led to aid agencies being penalized and sanctioned for working with government agencies in politically sensitive and complex situations. |
| Canada’s Conservatives will reform onerous “Direction and Control” regulation, ensuring accountability for spending without requiring projects in developing countries to be directly controlled by Canadian charities. | This is a welcome development, as we have seen how strict rules around direction and control have led to unfounded and prejudiced accusations that charities have potentially engaged in terrorist financing because they did not demonstrate an unrealistic degree of control over a partner organization. |
| Securing Our Border • To restore the integrity of our immigration system, Canada’s Conservatives will end illegal border crossings and unofficial points of entry like Roxham Road. • To further strengthen the integrity of our borders, Canada’s Conservatives will work with the US to set up joint border patrols at and near high traffic points on the land border. |
The Safe Third Agreement has placed individuals seeking refuge and asylum at risk, limiting their ability to apply for protection in Canada. It has forced individuals seeking refuge to make dangerous journeys into Canada between official border crossings. The STCA has been wrongly justified under the rubric of “border protection” and “national security” and is part of the broader plan of securing North American borders brought in post-9/11. Instead of strengthening the STCA, it should be repealed. It is also problematic that the Conservative Party continues to use the term “illegal” in describing these border crossings. As the United Nations High Commission on Refugees has noted, “To enter Canada without prior authorization for the purpose of seeking asylum is not a crime under international and Canadian law,” and therefore should not be described as “illegal.” Instead, the appropriate term is “irregular” border crossings. |
Source for Conservative Party of Canada platform 2021
New Democratic Party
| Platform promise | ICLMG’s take |
| New Democrats will deal with threats to our national security, including foreign interference and espionage, terrorism and cybercrime, by working with our international allies, enhancing real-time oversight of security services, and fully respecting the privacy and Charter rights of all Canadians. We will also strengthen protection for Canadians who are victims of foreign interference and threats. |
While we would have liked to see more details and specifics on how they will ensure the protection of civil liberties and human rights while countering threats to national security, the NDP, along with the Green Party, are the only parties to raise this specifically, and to promise greater oversight of security services. |
| New Democrats will take on white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups with a national action plan to dismantle far-right extremist organizations, including those that promote white supremacy. […] A New Democrat government will convene a national working group to counter online hate and protect public safety, and make sure that social media platforms are legally responsible for the removal of hateful and extremist content before it can do harm. | Unlike other proposals, the NDP does not conflate various forms of online harm, does not advocate for greater police powers, emphasizes countering systemic racism and prioritizes community responses. These are all positive developments. It was concerning to see the NDP fully support the use of anti-terrorism tools to counter hate groups earlier in 2021, and it is promising that this does not reappear in their platform. However, the lack of a clear rescinding of this policy position leaves open the question of how they will approach this in the future. |
| The federal government must take a leadership role in understanding how policies impact racialized communities and contribute to systemic racism. A New Democrat government will prioritize the collection of race-based data on health, employment, policing and more with the goal of improving outcomes for racialized communities. […]A New Democrat government will move immediately to ban carding by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [and will examine] how that information has been shared between the RCMP and other police forces and government agencies. |
These are very positive developments. Systemic racism in government institutions including national security agencies must be addressed. It is imperative that race-based data related to policing and intelligence operations – including in regards to national security and anti-terrorism – be collected and analyzed. It is also crucial that there be an examination of if and how carding data has been shared for national security and intelligence purposes and with which agencies. |
| New Democrats will work to strengthen privacy protections for Canadians by updating privacy legislation to include a digital bill of privacy rights, and boosting the powers of the Privacy Commissioner to make and enforce orders and levy fines and penalties. | This is an important and positive commitment. There is an urgent need to reform Canada’s privacy laws (private and public), including enshrining privacy as a human right, and empowering the Privacy Commissioner (although this promise could have benefited from more specifics). |
Source for New Democratic Party platform 2021
Green Party of Canada
| Platform promise | ICLMG’s take |
| The Green Party of Canada is deeply committed to immediate as well as long-term actions that will truly address systemic racism in our public institutions, and will continue to propose bold, just, and necessary solutions. | The Green Party platform provides clear and detailed ideas on ending systemic racism in various areas of society, including within government and within the RCMP. This is stronger than many other parties. However, they miss the opportunity to also explain how they will address these issues in relation to national security, intelligence and anti-terrorism work. In particular, while they mention recommendations emanating from other commissions and summits, there is no mention of the National Summit on Islamophobia. |
| Terminate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States
Revise Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) practices [and] developing an oversight mechanism, including a Civilian Complaint and Review Commission |
These are all positive promises. The Green Party is the only one to include the promise to end the Safe Third Country Agreement and to explicitly promise a dedicated review agency for the CBSA in its platform. |
| Pursue a foreign policy centred on the promotion of human security, and respect for the rule of law in dealing with state and non-state actors. …
Strongly condemn and raise international awareness of the evidence regarding violations of international law, and lead discussions with international allies to explore all options for bringing perpetrators into compliance. |
The Green Party platform unfortunately lacks clear positions on national security and anti-terrorism laws and activities. However, the emphasis on rule of law, especially towards both state and non-state actors, and of promoting human security (as opposed to national security) lay a strong grounding for addressing these national security and civil liberties issues as they arise. |
| Protect democracy in the digital age 1. Enshrine citizens’ digital rights, including ‘the right to not be profiled online.’ • Canada can follow the lead of the European Union, and listen to the recommendations of our national Privacy Commissioner. Regulations must distinguish between demographic profiling, and more manipulative psychometric profiling techniques. […]4. Protect civil liberties and freedom of expression. • Limit government to a regulatory rather than hands-on role in monitoring and moderating online content, and build protections that prevent suppression of lawful and accurate content, no matter how critical of government policy it may be. |
It is positive that the Green Party promises to follow the recommendations of the Privacy Commissioner. However, it lacks explicit guarantees to recognize privacy as a human right or to grant the Privacy Commissioner order-making powers. The commitment to protecting content online that is critical of the government is also positive, although Green Party promises to strengthen the use of AI in monitoring content raises questions about accuracy and bias. |
Source for Green Party of Canada platform 2021
Bloc Québécois
| Platform promise | ICLMG’s take |
| No commitments regarding national security, anti-terrorism and civil liberties. | No clear commitments on national security and anti-terrorism issues, including issues of systemic racism or rights violations among security agencies. While they commit to addressing hate and violence, there are no specific details around what tools they would use. |
Source for Bloc Québécois platform 2021
2. National Security Info Card 2019-2021
A good way to know what a party’s position on national security in the next Parliament will be, is to know how they have acted on that topic in the past. Here is what we know about what the various parties supported since the last election.
Legislation
Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act and the Canada Border Services Agency Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, was introduced by the Liberal government in January 2020
The bill would have amended the RCMP Act to rename its watchdog as the Public Complaints and Review Commission. It would also have amended the CBSA Act to grant that Commission the power to conduct a review of the activities of that Agency and to investigate complaints concerning the conduct of any of that Agency’s officers or employees – thus finally creating an independent review agency for the CBSA.
It was debated for a month, died when Parliament was prorogued during the summer of 2020.
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Non-legislative positions and actions
Canadians detained abroad
The House of Commons Foreign affairs committee recommended Ottawa repatriate Canadian children detained in North Eastern Syria. Furthermore, the United Nations as well as several countries have called on all states to repatriate their nationals detained in North Eastern Syria, adults and children, in accordance with international law, due process and for safety reasons.
Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil has been imprisoned in China since 2006 for defending the rights of his Muslim Uyghur community and as a result, being branded a terrorist by the Chinese government.
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CRA’s Prejudiced Audits
In June, we’ve published a report on CRA’s prejudiced audits against Muslim charities. In it, we recommended that:
- That the federal government refer this issue to review by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).
- That the Minister of National Revenue declare an immediate moratorium on the targeted audit of Muslim charities by RAD until the review has concluded.
- That the Ministry of Finance revisit the anti-terror regulatory, policy and legislative landscape, particularly the 2015 National Risk Assessment and its impact.
- That the federal government amend the NSIRA Act to allow for complaints from the public regarding the CRA’s national security-related activities.
- That NSIRA and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) coordinate to carry out regular reviews of the CRA’s anti-terrorism activities.
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Dissent and surveillance
The RCMP has used new surveillance technology without the approval or knowledge of superiors, the Public Safety Minister and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. They have also continued to spy on and harass activists, including the Wet’suwet’en people. The RCMP is also stalling the publication of its watchdog’s reports.
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Hassan Diab
Hassan Diab was extradited to France in 2014 on accusations of participating in a terrorist bombing in 1980, despite the very weak and convoluted evidence presented during the extradition case. He then spent more than 3 years in a French prison, mostly in solitary confinement, while judges investigated his case, without ever going to trial. Judges decided not to lay charges as they found he was not even in France at the time of the bombing, and closed the case. He was eventually released and returned to Canada in January 2018, although the French government is appealing the decision. Since his release, more and more evidence of Canadian Department of Justice officials interfering on behalf of the French government have arisen. Hassan Diab is now suing the Canadian government, and legal and human rights experts have called for a reform of the Extradition Act. Source
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Islamophobia
Islamophobia being a direct cause and consequence of our anti-terrorism and national security laws and actions, it is important that governments act to undo the damage they have done to Muslim communities, directly or indirectly. ICLMG has put together two documents – the second in collaboration with Azeezah Kanji – on what needs to be done to effectively fight Islamophobia.
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Source: CJPME’s 2021 Election Guide
Mohamed Harkat and Security Certificates
Mr. Harkat, a United Nations Convention refugee who has lived in Canada for 26 years, faces deportation to Algeria under a highly controversial security certificate. Security certificate hearings take place in secret, which means neither he nor his lawyers have ever been allowed to confront and cross-examine his accusers. Mr. Harkat faces deportation to Algeria where he will risk imprisonment, and torture. He has lived in fear for almost 19 years despite never having been charged with a crime. No one should be deported to torture. Get more details
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Online harms legislation
Over the past year, there have been urgent calls to address hate speech online, especially that which advocates for violence against Muslims, Jews, Black, Asian and Indigenous people, women and LGBTQ2 people. However, recent government proposals have also included regulating poorly defined “terrorist” content, obligating social media platforms to automatically send information to law enforcement, and creating new warrant powers for CSIS. These raise significant concerns that new online harms regulation could have an adverse affect on fundamental civil liberties, disproportionately impact the speech of marginalized communities, and still fail to reduce violent acts of hate.
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Safe Third Country Agreement
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, in effect since December 2004, Canada and the US each declare the other country safe for refugees and close the door on most refugee claimants at the US-Canada border. The US is not a safe country for refugees, therefore some will irregularly (not illegally, as this is legal under Canadian and international law) cross the US-Canada border between official land crossing points to be able to ask for asylum. The fact that many people do not feel safe to make their asylum request in the US should not disqualify them for asking for asylum in Canada and have a fair hearing. No one is automatically accepted. Immigrants and refugee claimants are processed in entirely different programs and selected on different criteria. The latter do not take the spots or delay the processing of the first, therefore there is no “queue-jumping”. Source 1, source 2 & source 3
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Terror Entities List
Following the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Congress and some calls to crack down on white supremacism, the Liberal government has added the Proud Boys, Atomwaffen, the Base, and the Russian Imperial Movement (as well as nine more groups identified as “Islamist”) to the terrorist entities list in February 2021. More groups were added in July 2021.
The terrorist entities list is a racist, political and rights-violating instrument and must be abolished.
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Torture
Abousfian Abdelrazik was unjustly imprisoned, and tortured in Sudan, while the Canadian government blocked his attempts to return home until the Federal Court ordered his return in a decision harshly criticizing the actions of CSIS and the government. He has launched a lawsuit against the Canadian government for its role in the injustice he suffered.
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Weapons and Arms Trade
Purchase of armed drones and fighter jets, as well as the sale of weapons to countries despite a bad human rights record – in the name of national security – are deeply concerning.
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Source: CJPME’s 2021 Election Guide
Want even more information on parties’ positions? Check out our National Security Info Cards for 2015 to 2019, and for 2001 to 2015.
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