Senate opposition leader James Cowan says he’ll break with the policy of the Liberal party and vote against the Harper government’s controversial anti-terrorism legislation, Bill C-51.

Cowan says the bill, which passed in the House of Commons last week with Liberal support, lacks oversight and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“My sense would be that most Liberal senators will oppose the bill. We’ll propose amendments — not the same amendments they did in the House but similar. For my part, if the amendments aren’t carried, and I don’t expect they will be, then I’ll vote against the bill,” said Cowan.

Cowan says Liberal senators — now officially independent since they were ejected from the national caucus in January, 2014 — have not checked with the Liberal party on their opposition to the bill and feel no compunction to.

“It’s an example, I think, of how freedom is kind of working for us,” Cowan said.

Cowan said his issue with the bill is that it fails to balance security needs and civil rights.

“There are certain rights that we guarantee people who live here and you have to be careful that you don’t go too far…and trample unnecessarily on people’s rights to privacy, to freedom of association, and freedom of speech. These are important fundamental things for us, so my sense is once again, the government’s got the balance wrong,” said Cowan, adding that government is trying to “arrest its way out of the problem.”

Another concern for Cowan is the fact that Canada is the only country of the “Five Eyes” — including United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Britain — that wouldn’t have any legislative oversight of police and intelligence authorities that will have additional powers to deal with terrorism threats.

“There are some real constitutional issues here,” said Cowan, who questions whether the bill complies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“There’s a provision in the bill that enables [authorities] to go to judges and get warrants to authorize the breaking of laws. Where does that come from? Is that really necessary?”

Cowan said that after reading a letter signed by former prime ministers, former justice ministers, former CSIS heads and academics who wrote that the bill had gone “too far,” he asked the government leader in the Senate, Claude Carignan, for the name of a “similarly eminent Canadian” who could say that Bill C-51 is a good thing.

“His answer was Stephen Harper,” said Cowan.

“That was his answer, that really says it all. I never expected him to say that. It’s that bad, because they don’t have any [experts], they say the prime minister.”

“The [government] will say ‘enough’s enough let’s have a vote’. They’ll vote one way I’ll vote the other, and we’ll move on to the next thing. That’s not sober second thought.”

It’s important to raise these issues, said Cowan, and he said once the bill is passed somebody will challenge the law, they’ll go to court and the court will say it’s unconstitutional.

“We should be a part of that protection against abuse, but right now we’re not and so it’s up to the courts.”