Article content continued

“If we want civil rights to flourish in the country, we need to have security,” he said.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Mr. Blaney made the comments on the same day the House of Commons kicked off debate on the government’s new counterterrorism bill. Opposition parties expressed cautious support for a series of amendments to give Canada’s spy agency more powers.

The new bill to bolster the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act would give the agency greater surveillance powers, and enshrine in law the ability of CSIS to operate at home and overseas while also making it easier to share intelligence with allies. The bill, known as C-44, would also grant anonymity to CSIS witnesses in court cases, even keeping their identities secret from the judges involved.

The legislation does allow for a court-appointed lawyer to argue in favour of disclosing a witness’s identity, Mr. Blaney said.

“There are robust legislative measures that make this bill reasonable,” he said.

The bill was originally slated to be introduced on Oct. 22, the same day Cpl. Cirillo was slain at the National War Memorial by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who then opened fire inside the Centre Block before being killed.

In the Commons, Mr. Blaney introduced the bill by quoting the sister of the soldier who was killed two weeks ago in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., by a man on an RCMP terrorism watch list. Mr. Blaney said Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent’s sister asked at Mr. Vincent’s funeral that her brother’s death not be in vain. “There is no liberty without security,” Mr. Blaney said.

He said the deaths of both Warrant Officer Vincent and Cpl. Cirillo were terrorist attacks, saying “we have to call a spade a spade.”

He also defended an amendment that would expedite the citizenship minister’s ability to strip citizenship from dual nationals convicted of terrorism. “We will not share a passport with those who want to cut off our heads,” he said.

The government also is considering adding more provisions to the Criminal Code, including making it illegal to promote, incite or glorify terrorism online.

Postmedia News, with files from The Canadian Press