On September 20th Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Rob Nicholson held a press conference to introduce the Conservatives’ promised omnibus crime act titled The Safe Streets and Communities Act (C-10)[1]. Originally this act was to contain the invasive “lawful access” legislation contained in bills C-50, C-51, and C-52, that would introduce costly and warrantless spying of Internet activity in Canada. However much to the relief of many Canadians when this legislation was introduced, lawful access was not included. This was due to the massive outcry from over 70,000 Canadians who signed OpenMedia.ca‘s petition against lawful access legislation. The message here is clear: Canadians do not want their government to spy on them.
Recently Steve Anderson of OpenMedia.ca published an article discussing the future of lawful access legislation[2]. Taking the Conservative Party’s response to the CRTC’s decision to approve of usage based billing into consideration, “if the Conservatives learned anything at all from that experience, they’ll modify their online spying legislation so it’s in line with the will of Canadians.” We at the Pirate Party of Canada hope that the Conservatives are willing to listen to Canadians and will change this legislation accordingly, but we’re not holding our breath. People need to speak out against this legislation and educate others. Sign the petition on OpenMedia.ca and get your friends and family to as well. The battle against this legislation is far from over.
References:
1. http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Federal-Politics/2011/09/20/Lawful-Access-Omitted-From-Crime-Bill/
2. http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2011/09/21/Lawful-Access-Internet-Spying/
Related Reading:
Stop Online Spying Petition (please sign):
http://openmedia.ca/StopSpying
All Bills for the Current Session (41st Parliament, 1st Session):
http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/Home.aspx?Parl=41&Ses=1&Page=1
Pirate Party of Canada guide for those who may wish to share information while preserving what should be their right to privacy:
https://www.pirateparty.ca/uncategorized/lawful-access-and-the-privacy-of-canadians-2
