Bill C-51 - An Election Winner?

[Oscar]

In the Conservative war on terror, the first casualty is Parliament

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Public approval still no substitute for public scrutiny

By Chris Hall, CBC News Posted: Feb 26, 2015 5:00 AM ET| Last Updated: Feb 26, 2015 5:21 AM ET

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QUOTE: "The (Conservative) party also considers public security a winning issue for them heading into an election, so much so that the government is determined to push this bill through with a minimum of parliamentary scrutiny and review."

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Fresh from limiting the parliamentary debate, at second reading, on its proposed anti-terror law, the government is now resisting opposition calls for an extensive review of Bill C-51 by the Commons committee on public safety and national security.

"This bill is strongly supported by Canadians," Stephen Harper argued this week during Question Period, "and I encourage the committee to study it as quickly as possible in order to adopt these measures to help Canadian security during the life of this Parliament."

What the prime minister bases his judgment of public support on isn't clear, though one opinion poll has suggested four out of five Canadians are in favour of giving Canada's spy agency and police broad new powers.

But public support, no matter how it's measured, is no substitute for public scrutiny.

The government's bill proposes to give Canada's spy agency broad new powers to disrupt suspected terrorist plots, to allow government departments to share private information more widely, and to allow suspects to be detained without charge for longer periods.

But critics say that these new powers, and overly broad definitions in the proposed law, represent a threat to Canadians' rights, without any commensurate increase in parliamentary or third-party oversight.

An election winner?

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