Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The federal government is moving to curb debate on its controversial lawful access bill this week, in a bid to push it through the Commons before Parliament’s summer break.
A freshly tabled motion would force members of the Commons public safety committee to speed through consideration of amendments to Bill C-22, curbing their ability to discuss the proposals or question government officials about any implications. The government hopes the bill would then accelerate through other Commons stages by the end of the week.
Bill C-22, also known as the Lawful Access Act, would require electronic service providers, including internet companies, to give surveillance and monitoring capabilities to police forces and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
The government is accusing Conservatives on the committee of deliberately trying to stall the bill by dragging out the discussion of amendments. A meeting is scheduled today from 3:30 p.m. until midnight to consider them.
Explainer: What to know about Bill C-22, Canada’s proposed lawful-access legislation
Conservatives have said they are not being given enough time to consider the complex bill in committee, have not seen expert briefings as they were not translated on time, and have not been given the opportunity to question all the experts they wanted to call.
They have argued that the bill should be split in two, to allow the more controversial second part – which introduces the lawful access regime – to be given more time for consideration and debate.
Simon Lafortune, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, said the bill has undergone changes to address concerns and opposition parties have had opportunities “to engage constructively.”
“From the start, our government has been clear that we are open to amendments and working across party lines to ensure this critical piece of legislation is passed,” he said. But he criticized the public safety committee for being “unproductive over the past few weeks despite the committee agreeing to a specific schedule on April 30.”
He added: “We must move forward through the parliamentary process so we can support victims and give law enforcement the tools they need to protect Canadians.”
The government has said Canada is dragging behind other G7 countries in not having a lawful access regime. It brought in Bill C-22 to introduce one after calls from police forces and CSIS for more powers, including enabling them to identify suspects’ locations and activity in the digital space.
But critics, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Meta, Google, Apple and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, have argued Bill C-22 risks weakening or breaking encryption and could introduce security vulnerabilities into digital systems.
Mr. Anandasangaree told reporters Tuesday that “law enforcement needs modern tools to fight modern criminals. Those tools are in Bill C-22.” He said he is willing to accept amendments, suggesting that he may be willing to reduce the metadata retention period to six months from one year.
The minister said the work of the committee had “effectively ground to a halt” because of Conservative tactics. Ten hours had been spent on seven amendments, and one amendment took three hours of discussion, he added. “Filibustering and obstructionism is not the approach that is needed for the moment. I do want to see progress on this bill.”
Google warns lawful-access bill could create major cybersecurity risks
Conservative public safety critic Frank Caputo said in a statement that “the Liberals promised to listen on Bill C-22. They promised amendments. Now, they are attempting to aggressively pass this bill into law while ignoring legitimate concerns.”
He continued: “In doing so, they’re taking an undemocratic approach to ramming through a contentious bill. This is problematic on multiple levels.”
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Claude DeBellefeuille, the Bloc Québécois member of the public safety committee, said she was surprised and shocked by the attitude of the government. The committee has been co-operative on the bill, she said, adding that members need more time to study it because there are a lot of amendments before them.
Josh Tabish, senior director for Canada at Chamber of Progress, a tech industry policy association, called it “an extraordinary and highly compressed timeline for a bill of this significance.”
“The practical effect,” he said, “is that C-22 could clear the House with minimal scrutiny, limited debate and very little opportunity for further amendment, which is extremely disappointing given the outpouring of concern about the legislation, especially the new surveillance powers.”
Explainer: What to know about Bill C-22, Canada’s proposed lawful-access legislation
Michael Geist, the University of Ottawa’s Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law, said the government move feels undemocratic, and high risk. He was among the experts to give evidence to the public safety committee on the bill.
“Undemocratic because it cuts off debate and keeps the amendments that MPs vote on secret from the public. High risk because the bill as it stands creates serious privacy and security risks with the prospect of companies leaving Canada,” he said in a statement.
A number of tech companies, including end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal, have said they will withdraw their services from Canada if the bill passes as currently worded.
“Despite Bill C-22’s complexity and severe erosion of privacy rights, the government is forcing a vote and curtailing legislative debate of a proposal that will reshape Canada’s surveillance framework for decades to come,” said Tamir Israel, director of privacy, surveillance and technology program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
“The speed at which the bill, which was first retabled less than three months ago, is being rushed through Parliament is the latest indication of a broken legislative process that is not serving the Canadian public.”