Lawrence Martin is the author of 10 books, including six national bestsellers. His most recent, Harperland, was nominated for the Shaughnessy Cohen award. His other works include two volumes on Jean Chrétien, two on Canada-U.S. relations and three books on hockey.

Team Harper should have listened to Stockwell Day.

When Day was Public Safety minister, he opposed the type of digital snooping that his successor, Vic Toews, is bringing forth with Bill C-30.

Last year when the question of handing police the extraordinary powers arose, Day stated that “We are not in any way, shape, or form wanting extra powers for police to pursue [information online] without warrants.” While having to get a warrant could make police work more difficult, Day held to the view that the citizen’s right to privacy was paramount.

In the summer when Toews’ intentions became known, I contacted Day and asked him what happened. “I won’t back away from what I said, nor would I want to,” Day wrote back.” He didn’t directly condemn Toews, saying he wanted to wait to till the details of the proposed legislation were in.

Now they are in and indeed the police are to get new powers to search the web without warrants. Given the storm of protest, the proposed legislation has touched off, it’s a good bet that the prime minister wishes he had heeded Day’s warning which I wrote about in a column – Pushing the Limits of State Surveillance – last August [Globe and Mail, August 17, 2011].

Day ran Public Safety in a more moderate manner than Toews, who is regarded — along with Justice Minister Rob Nicholson — as one of the most paleolithic ministers Canada has ever produced.

The storm of protest touched off by the digital intrusion policy includes scathing criticism from conservative commentators. Conservative governments are supposed to stand for personal freedoms and less government intrusion in people’s lives. But in Harperland, stronger control from the centre in a wide range of areas, communications being a foremost example, has become a staple of operations.

The C-30 outcry has likely caught Harper by surprise because when his digital-intrusion policy was first made known, the reaction was muted. It appeared he would be able to get it done under the radar.

Insiders say there is a good chance, given the extent of the outrage, that Harper will back down on this one, amending C-30 to soften its terms.

His extraordinarily hard line in the area of justice and security is seen in several other measures which have raised opposition ire. These too diminish freedoms. The government has re-introduced post 9/11 anti-terrorism provisions which had lapsed and that provide for detention without charge. It has lessened Canadians’ rights to a fair trial by the imposing of mandatory minimums for victimless crimes such as growing marijuana plants. It has indirectly condoned the use of torture by saying that in some instances it will accept information from foreign governments obtained by torture. It refused to speak out against the system of justice used at Guantanamo. In the immigration area, it is proposing, as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association points out, to jail for 12 months — and without judicial oversight — people seeking asylum in Canada.

On the question of Canadians incarcerated abroad, Toews has broken with the country’s traditional humane approach by refusing to allow them to be transferred to serve out their sentences in Canadian institutions. A recent Federal Court ruling condemned Toews for not producing sufficient grounds for turning down a repatriation bid.

The policies reflect the Reform Party roots of many Harper Conservatives. Many of the initiatives appeal to the PM’s instincts and to the party base. Though he may step back on the internet snooping legislation, he is not about to change overall direction.

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