Nation’s Business

October 25, 2001

Good evening, my name is Bill Blaikie. I’m the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Transcona and NDP House leader.

The Liberal government’s new Anti-terrorism Legislation is welcome in so far as it implements certain United Nations conventions that Canada has ratified. Other sections of the legislation are, however, attracting a great deal of controversy. Many Canadians share the concerns expressed by New Democrats in Parliament that the legislation is a potential threat to the right of Canadians to legitimate political dissent, and it is this concern for the preservation and protection of legitimate dissent that guides the NDP in its approach to Bill C-36. The liberal government has not been respectful of legitimate dissent in recent years and has created an atmosphere of mistrust as to how it might use new legislative powers.

Therefore we want to see amendments to the legislation which would make it absolutely clear that this new law cannot be used or abused against Canadians who participate in demonstrations, strikes, or other customary forms of political or institutional dissent, or to create big loopholes in our privacy and freedom of information laws. Prominent civil libertarians, professors of law, the Information Commission, the Privacy Commission and many others also want to see such amendments.

Those sections of the bill which are so controversial and so potentially threatening to our values, we want to see sunsetted; which is to say that we want them to expire after a definite period of time. The government can then re-introduce them if it feels such measures are still necessary. Otherwise, we run the risk of permanently changing our laws to deal with a problem that we all are working hard to ensure will only be a temporary one.

The tension between freedom and security will always be with us. The balance sometimes tilts towards security when our freedom is threatened by varying forms of violence, tyranny, or fear, and terrorism is a mixture of all these threats. But if we tilt too far on the security side, we begin to do the work of those who do not share our values, and who would like us to compromise ourselves.

Democracy has to be defended at home, as well as in the international arena. Just as we need to be consistent in our support for democratic values abroad, and not just when it suits us, we also need to be steadfast at home in defence of such values.

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice have indicated that they may be open to changing the legislation. They seem to realize the gravity of what their legislation involves, but are giving out mixed messages as to what changes they will actually allow the Liberal members of the committee to support.

The legislation is now before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice. We are hearing witnesses and will soon be considering how to amend the bill. This is a time to really let a parliamentary committee make a difference. If you share the NDP’s concern about this legislation, let us know.  Let the Minister of Justice know. Let your MP know. Visit our web site at ndp.ca.  Working together, we can make this legislation what it should be.