Canadian PM Harper urges swift passage of "anti-terror" bill; says public strongly supports bill, so little scrutiny of it is needed

I wrote my MP Ted Tsu of the liberal party, here is what he has to say:

Bill C-51 includes significant measures that will help keep Canadians safe, and, for this reason, Liberal Party MPs will vote in favour of this legislation. We welcome the measures that build on the existing powers of preventative arrest, make better use of no-fly lists, and allow for immediate and more coordinated information sharing by government departments and agencies. The individual freedoms we cherish as Canadians cannot exist without collective security.

However, responsible government requires an understanding of balance. When a government asks its citizens to give up even a small portion of their liberty, it is that government's highest responsibility to guarantee that its new powers will not be abused.

We do have criticisms and we have heard the concerns of you and other Canadians about Bill C-51. Now that the bill has been sent to committee, the Liberal Party will fight for a range of amendments, notably to implement oversight by elected officials, to require a mandatory review of the law after three years, and to narrow the overly broad definition of threats to national security (which goes beyond terrorist threats by, for example, including general threats to economic and financial stability).

Liberals have called for, or introduced, legislation to create national security oversight since 2004, when then-Justice Minister Irwin Cotler appeared before Parliamentary committees tasked with conducting a full review of the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act (the committee work and oversight legislation was terminated by the 2005 election call and subsequent change in government). Most recently Liberal MP Wayne Easter’s Bill C-551, “An Act to establish the National Security Committee of Parliamentarians”, and Liberal MP Joyce Murray’s Bill C-622, “An Act to amend the National Defence Act (transparency and accountability) to enact the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Act” have sought to create national security oversight.

Canada is the only nation of its kind without national security oversight being carried out by parliamentarians and our amendments will address this issue. Specifically, the Liberal Party of Canada will bring forward amendments to C-51 to:

(1) focus and clarify the overly broad scope of the new powers which has concerned so many Canadians; (2) create a national security oversight body of parliamentarians, as have every one of Canada’s partners in the Five Eyes alliance (US, UK, NZ, and Australia); and (3) require a mandatory review of Bill C-51, in its entirety, after three years.

If the Conservative government is serious in its approach, it must set aside partisanship in order to keep Canadians safe while protecting our rights and values. The government can either act with the understanding that Canadians want both greater oversight and greater accountability—or they will give us the opportunity to offer that by taking our amendments directly to Canadians in our election platform.

Liberals voted in favour of C-51 because of the measures in C-51 which will help keep Canadians safe. Wanting to keep Canadians safe must not become a ballot box question in the 2015 election. But if Liberal amendments to C-51 do not succeed, then parliamentary oversight, mandatory review of the law and a focused definition of national security specific to terrorism will be in the Liberal platform as an option presented to Canadians.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your opinion. It is through dialogue with Canadians like you that we can continue to ensure that the policies we support and create are representative of the values and needs of all Canadians.

Sincerely, Ted Hsu, MP Kingston and the Islands

/r/worldnews Thread Link - innipegfreepress.com