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Last week, New Democrats were calling on the government to allow a full range of experts and others concerned about the bill to testify at committee in order to develop practical amendments that will strengthen oversight and protect Canadians’ freedoms. Instead, the government decided to cut off debate and to play more politics that puts our freedoms at risk.

As New Democrats oppose C-51 and the Liberals vote for it, more than a hundred of Canada’s brightest legal experts from institutions across the country sent an open letter to all members of Parliament expressing their “deep concern” about C-51. They call the Conservative bill a “dangerous piece of legislation in terms of its potential impacts on the rule of law, on constitutionally and internationally protected rights, and on the health of Canada’s democracy.”

The NDP believes we need responsible approaches to protecting Canadian values and freedoms, as well as our personal safety.

The government wants to give CSIS a huge new mandate without improving its oversight: Minister MacKay says the best way to protect our fundamental freedoms is to rely on our independent judiciary. Regular attacks on Canada’s courts when they don’t rule in the government’s favour show the Conservatives’ disdain for an independent judiciary, but the issue here is that judges cannot be asked to replace the role of civilian oversight for our nation’s security. It is also hard to understand why the minister would object to Canada’s elected officials providing security oversight, when you consider how one of their appointments to head the Security Intelligence Review Committee is now sitting in a Panamanian jail.