The controversial Anti-Terrorism Act – or Bill C-51 – continued to prompt heated debate after NDP public safety critic Randall Garrison announced plans to table a private member’s bill at the “first opportunity” in the fall sitting to repeal the bill.
“I’m doing so in the absence of substantive action on C-51 by the Liberals, a party who voted for the bill in opposition but promised to fix it in government,” Garrison said during a press conference July 27. “C-51 was an important issue in the campaign and Canadians voted overwhelmingly for candidates committed to repealing or amending C-51.
“Canadians still expect the Liberals to act to protect our basic freedoms and they know that this can be done while still keeping us safe.”
Bill C-51 introduced a number of intelligence revisions and broadened the scope of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). The then-Conservative government cited the October 2014 shootings on Parliament Hill among its major arguments to reform intelligence gathering in Canada.
“I think, much like now you’ve seen in the last few months, there have been some pretty horrendous terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States that shows no country is immune from those kinds of threats,” Banff-Airdrie Conservative MP Blake Richards said. “What we can do, is we can protect our citizens – but you’re doing it with a balance to protect the civil liberties of Canadians. I believe it was a bill that sought to strike that right balance.”
Prior to taking office, the Liberal government supported the bill while committing to introduce a series of amendments if elected.
According to the Liberal policy as released, some amendments will include ensuring CSIS respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, establishing an all-party national security oversight committee, reviewing “narrow overly broad definitions” such as terrorist propaganda and requiring a statutory review of the full act after three years.
Garrison said NDP members still favoured repealing the bill over proposed amendments.
“In the debate on C-51, MPs heard opposition to this bill from across the political spectrum on the basis that C-51 threatens our basic rights and freedoms without making us safer,” he said.
But Richards said C-51 has been effective in providing essential information to law enforcement in the wake of continued terrorist threats.
“There’s talk about making changes, but it just seems to be the Liberal approach of playing both sides. I don’t know what their intentions are,” he said. “There has been evidence of about over two dozen cases and potential risks disrupted because of the act. It shows it is working. I believe the balance has been found.”
