TORONTO

Thousands gathered in the heart of Toronto Saturday to protest the federal government’s new anti-terrorism bill — legislation many demonstrators said would turn Canada into an “Orwellian” state under an intrusive, totalitarian government.

As many as 4,000 people were expected to brave Saturday’s cold and rain to stand in Nathan Phillips Square outside City Hall and denounce the Conservative’s Bill C-51, a piece of legislation that would expand the powers of Canada’s spy agency and give the RCMP increased powers of arrest when it comes to the prevention of terrorism and the promotion of it.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper maintains the bill, which passed second reading in the House of Commons in February, is necessary to deal with the threat of terrorism.

But critics say it would stomp on the rights and freedoms of Canadians in the process, with some fearing it would jeopardize the rights to privacy and to protest.

Saturday’s demonstration was one of more than 50 planned for across the country.

Organizer Kim Fry of StopC51.ca likened aspects of the bill to George Orwell’s novel 1984, in which an authoritarian government closely monitors its citizens’ conduct, speech, and thoughts.

“It feels very Orwellian ... It really feels like all the things I grew up with of ‘This is the future we do not want,’ it feels like we’re going down that path,” said Fry, calling Harper’s talk of a “terror threat” politically motivated fear mongering that uses last year’s killing of two Canadian soldiers by homegrown radicals as fuel for passage of the bill.

“This whole label of terrorism, we’re being very sloppy with it because people are not using it in a strict way, they’re using it out of political expediency, and that’s a problem,” said Fry, explaining that the shooting of a soldier in Ottawa last October was done by a disturbed gunman who didn’t belong to a terrorist group. “Let’s talk about what terrorism really is. That was an unfortunate, tragic incident ... but it is being exploited by a government that doesn’t care about democracy.”

Speakers included human rights lawyer Paul Copeland, who called C-51 “the most dangerous ... piece of legislation” since the War Measures Act of 1970’s October Crisis, and NDP MP Andrew Cash, who sang an altered version of Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth.’

Federal NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan said terrorism may be a “real threat,” but the protection of Canadians’ freedoms must not be done via the removal of them.

“This bill brings broad sweeping changes to the security regime and ... changes the definition of terrorism to be so vague, that just about anybody can be a terrorist.”

The office of Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness was quick to respond.

“We reject the argument that every time we talk about security, our freedoms are threatened,” said a spokesman. “Canadians understand that their freedom and security go hand in hand. Canadians expect us to protect both.”

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