A Mi'kmaq lawyer fighting against the government's anti-terror bill asked members of a Commons committee Tuesday to compare the number of Canadians who have died on home soil in terror attacks to the number of missing and murdered aboriginal women.

Pam Palmater, who holds a chair in indigenous governance at Toronto's Ryerson University, said the controversial legislation targets aboriginal people's way of life and their right to protest. She said C-51 "captures everything under Idle No More" and could put aboriginal people in jail.

She said she's also concerned about a section of the bill that would outlaw terrorist propaganda and could be used against First Nations people.

"All we have left are our thoughts, and our private thoughts will now be criminalized," Palmater told MPs.

"My declaration of sovereignty — that kind of material on my computer could be considered terrorism, a threat to national security."

Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president Stewart Phillip called for the bill to be scrapped. He told the hearing the "heavy-handed powers" the bill would grant are "absolutely appalling."

"We believe Bill C-51 is more about increasing the output of the tarsands and facilitating the heavy oil pipeline proposals across this country," he said.

The First Nations speakers join opposition MPs, civil liberties advocates and the Assembly of First Nations, who have said the proposed law is too broad and would violate the freedom and privacy of Canadians.

The committee heard from Insp. Steve Irwin of the Toronto Police Service, who praised how the bill would facilitate information sharing between departments, which he says is important in the fight against terrorism.

"Absolutely at the federal level it is crucial that information be allowed to be shared, but there has to be accountability for that and, certainly, I think it's important to respect all our rights."

Conservative MP Diane Ablonczy asked Irwin about concerns C-51 would target protesters.

"For our system to work, we do need people to protest, we do need checks and balances in the system," he said.

NDP MPs Niki Ashton and Romeo Saganash both raised Palmater's concerns in question period later on Tuesday.

In response, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Steven Blaney pointed to a section of the bill saying it does not apply to "lawful advocacy, protest, dissent and artistic expression."

But Saganash, who is a member of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi in Quebec, said he had "all too often" seen law and order authorities call indigenous protests illegal, and that First Nations people deserved more than government "rhetoric" about how C-51 would not affect their rights.

NDP MP Rosane Dore Lefebvre alleged there was "dissent" in the government ranks about the bill, referring to a statement by Michael Chong, an Ontario Conservative MP.

In a news release dated March 17, Chong said, "while I fully support Bill C-51, I also believe we need greater oversight of Canadian security and intelligence agencies by a parliamentary committee of elected MPs, who are directly and democratically accountable to Canadians."

In question period, Blaney replied that Canada's model for oversight was "the envy" of the world.