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Still, it’s hard to see just what the Conservatives’ new law would accomplish. The infringement on civil liberties may seem slight — a general right to enter or exit the country need not necessarily apply to every part of the globe. And yet it is troubling to contemplate a person accused of this new crime, facing as much as 10 years in jail if convicted, being forced to prove his reasons for travel were innocent, rather than the other way around. Such reverse onuses are not unknown in criminal law, but can only be justified in exceptional cases. Is this such an exception?

As with so many measures the Conservatives have unveiled to much fanfare, the authorities would seem already to have the power it proposes. Recall that Michel Zehaf-Bibeau, the Parliament Hill attacker, had been frustrated in his quest to travel to Syria by the simple expedient of denying his passport application. Measures enacted as part of this spring’s omnibus budget bill have made it easier to take away passports from those judged to be security risks.

Which raises the question: why are the Conservatives promising their new travel ban now? Why was this proposal not part of Bill C-51, which was also passed this spring? The only answer is that the Tories kept the travel proposal in reserve, to have something to put in the window as Canadians head to the polls this October.

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Politically, such a move serves two purposes: reminding voters of the government’s previous anti-terror laws, and making the terror issue a ballot question, to minimize the importance of others such as the economy. But if the legislation now proposed is so necessary to Canadians’ safety as claimed, it should surely have been passed at the first opportunity. If, on the other hand, it is unnecessary, then why pass it at all?

While we do not dispute that the government has a legitimate objective to prevent terrorists from recruiting Canadians, it must strike a proper balance between security and freedoms — and not play electoral politics with either.

National Post