BILL C-51: Our Statement to the Standing Committee on National Security & Public Safety
Craig FORCESE and Kent ROACH, BILL C-51: Our Statement to the Standing Committee on National Security & Public Safety, Canada's proposed antiterrorism act, As Assessment, Study of Bill C-51 (Antiterrorism Act 2015), Meeting No. 55, March 12, 2015
Professor Forcese and I have produced over 200 pages of detailed analysis of parts 1, 3 and 4 of Bill C-51. It is a complex omnibus bill that would add two new security laws and amend another 15 existing, including most notably the Criminal Code and CSIS Act.
In our analysis we have tried to bear in mind the effects, including unintended ones, that the bill could have on both security and rights. Security and rights go hand in hand in both our democracy but also in our legal analysis of the proportionality of the proposed measures.
We wish to underscore: we have published to antiterrorlaw.ca a table proposing many carefully considered amendments. This was too lengthy a document to submit as our testimony. But the ideas are there for every parliamentarian and citizen to consider. We believe that those amendments meet every single one of the justifications the government has offered for C-51 – and in some cases do more to achieve them. We think they also minimize the negative and possibly dangerous collateral consequences of this bill. We are trying to do our part to improve the bill.
This content has been updated on 15 June 2015 at 14 h 14 min.