It will be a little while until Prime Minister-in-waiting Justin Trudeau is sworn in and takes the helm of the country, but many are speculating what some of his priorities going forward are.
John Shoff of Reality Bytes in Drumheller, is concerned with the new government’s position on how it will handle the Anti Terrorism Act, known widely as Bill C-51 before it was proclaimed law.
The controversial anti terrorism bill was well criticized. While it was designed to allow government departments to share information, it also granted new powers that could be unconstitutional. While the Conservative Party drafted and voted for the bill, the Liberal Party also supported it, although they said it would be amended in the event they take power.
With a business in the technology sector, Shoff has been following the debate closely. He is not sure if the bill is salvageable.
“I would rip it apart, repeal it completely,” Shoff tells inSide Drumheller.
One of the criticisms of the bill is that some of the language is not clear, and questions have arisen as to what constitutes “terrorism propaganda”, or “promotion of terrorism.”
“I would redo it from scratch. The intention is good, but it is filled with a lot of vague definitions that could be easily misconstrued. It also doesn’t have much in oversight on how this stuff is going to be implemented,” said Shoff.
He has concerns as an internet provider, on what sort of information he has to monitor.
“On the internet provider side of things, again it is pretty vague, but the way they explained it, that as an internet provider, you are almost supposed to be spying on everyone, because you are supposed to be able to go back in time,” he said. “So if they go get a warrant for internet records from a particular user, they want the internet service provider (ISP) to be able to go back in time and provide that information. It means, as an ISP, you have to be tracking everyone all the time in order to provide that information.”
“It seems really unreasonable.”
Indications are the new government will be looking at making amendments early in the coming parliamentary session. Some of these amendments could include a sunset clause and a Joint House of Commons-Senate committee to provide oversight. There are indications there will be more consultation with the public and experts.
