The bill contains a number of measures restricting access to an asylum hearing and tightening immigration rules.GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images
Embattled Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree is set to introduce a new version of Ottawa’s strong-borders bill, which has been sharply criticized for threatening personal privacy and potentially breaching the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The proposed legislation, known as Bill C-2, would have enabled police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to demand basic information about services used by Canadians, without needing a warrant. The new version of the bill is likely to be introduced within days, parliamentary papers show.
The original version was introduced in part to address concerns by the Trump administration about Canada’s border enforcement and to tighten immigration and asylum rules.
Earlier this week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the government must either make significant changes to the bill or introduce a new version that corrects its flaws if it wants his party’s support to pass it into law.
“We’ve told Liberals that their current Bill C-2 will not pass unless they remove the violations of Canadians’ individual freedoms and privacy,” he said in a CBC interview.
The NDP’s public safety and immigration critic, Jenny Kwan, has also expressed serious concerns about the bill and, at its second reading debate last month, called for it to be withdrawn entirely.
On Tuesday, Ms. Kwan questioned, in an e-mail, why the Public Safety Minister had rushed forward with the omnibus bill “in the first place without robust consultation or due diligence.” She said the NDP would judge the new version on its merits once they have studied it.
”Carney’s centralizing approach has many blind spots – this climbdown is yet another example,” she added.
Bill C-2 is currently being debated in the House of Commons and has yet to progress to the committee stage or to the Senate for closer scrutiny. Since the Liberals have a minority government, it would need the support of MPs from other parties to move forward.
Parliamentary papers that indicate future business in the Commons show that Mr. Anandasangaree is set to present another borders bill with a very similar name.
Explainer: What's included in Bill C-2, the border security bill
The government is expected to halt Bill C-2 in its tracks and move forward with the updated version, containing changes to its text to reflect concerns raised.
The Public Safety Department has previously indicated that it would be willing to make changes to the strong-borders act, and was listening to feedback it received. Typically, any such changes would be made at the committee stage.
The introduction of another version of the bill is a setback for Mr. Anandasangaree, the Public Safety Minister, who has faced criticism recently over unguarded remarks he made about government gun-control measures.
An analysis by the Library of Parliament, reported by The Globe in August, warned that his department’s proposed strong-borders legislation risked infringing on Canadians’ Charter rights if passed, including the right to be treated equally under the law.
The study by experts at the library, which carries out research for MPs and senators, also noted that Bill C-2 could lead to discriminatory profiling and targeting by law enforcement and that some of its provisions – including a proposal to allow Canada Post to open letters – would jeopardize the privacy of Canadians.
The omnibus bill was also criticized by a coalition of human-rights and civil-liberties groups. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association rang alarm bells about the scope of a clause that would allow CSIS and police to ask service providers, such as telecoms, hotels or car-rental companies, if someone had used their services or whether they have “any information” about them, without first obtaining a warrant.
In June, after the bill was first tabled, Tamir Israel, director of the CCLA’s privacy, surveillance and technologies program, warned that the powers would allow any official tasked with enforcing a federal law to get a detailed picture of someone’s activities.
At its second reading debate last month, Ms. Kwan warned that the provision would allow law enforcement to demand basic information from health care providers, including psychiatrists, without a warrant.
Mr. Anandasangaree told MPs in the chamber in June after the bill’s introduction that it “does not violate the civil liberties or rights of individual Canadians.”
He said its new provisions “would enable law enforcement to go to a service provider and ask if the phone number they have is with that company. It is simply a yes-or-no question.”
Refugee advocates and immigration lawyers have expressed concern about a number of measures in Bill C-2 restricting access to asylum hearings and tightening immigration rules.
They have warned that dissidents, human-rights activists and journalists being persecuted by foreign regimes could find themselves unable to get asylum hearings in Canada under the planned immigration changes.
As currently worded, the bill would exclude dissidents and others from hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board if they came to Canada more than a year before their claim.
Ottawa’s strong borders bill could infringe on Charter and privacy rights, parliamentary study warns
Many, including opponents of authoritarian regimes, may have visited Canada to attend meetings, speak at summits or give lectures, the experts warn.
Last month, The Globe reported about concerns that the proposed legislation could compromise cybersecurity in Canada by prohibiting electronic service providers from warning each other of vulnerabilities in their systems so they can bolster their defences against hackers.
Bill C-2 would introduce a secrecy requirement covering electronic service providers and a ban on disclosing “information related to a system vulnerability or potential systemic vulnerabilities in electronic protections employed by that service provider.”
Matt Hatfield, the executive director of OpenMedia, which advocates for keeping the internet open and surveillance-free, said having security professionals and companies flagging system vulnerabilities is a proven way to protect against hacking.