Christian Leuprecht : Globalization has made Canada as vulnerable to violent extremism as our allies. The difference is that most of them – Britain the U.K., France, Spain, Germany – have had to live with terrorism for decades. Many have long had in place the provisions similar to the ones in C-51 that are the cause of such consternation here at home. Canada needs to grow up and benefit from their experience in understanding that freedom and security can be reconciled.

CSIS powers

Should CSIS inform parents that their child may be looking to travel abroad to join the Islamic State? The Alberta parents whose daughter recently left the country sure thought so. But under a strict reading of the current act, CSIS has no authority to do so; nor can CSIS cancel the suspect traveller's plane ticket; nor a clear mandate to inform Passport Canada. Under its current mandate, all CSIS can do is collect, analyze and retain information, advise government, provide security screening (for new citizens and passport applicants, for instance), and engage in limited foreign intelligence. C-51 will make it possible for CSIS to disrupt suspect financial flows, operations and personnel. If any rights are being violated in the process, CSIS will need to seek judicial authorization. And before it can do so, that authorization has to be signed off by the Minister of Public Safety. And before that it is vetted by an interdepartmental committee. And before that it has to pass all the accountability measures within CSIS. Moreover, CSIS will have to report on its use of disruption powers to the Security Intelligence Review Committee. Those are the exact same checks currently in place for CSIS seeking a warrant. Want to be a spook? You need a master's degree. Professionalism aside, CSIS will use these new powers sparingly if at all, precisely because the agency knows that they are controversial and their misuse would call its legitimacy into question.

Information sharing



It is not all that uncommon for a Canadian traveller to lose his/her passport, nor to show up at an embassy injured. But when someone shows up at Canada's embassy in Beirut having"lost" his passport and with a bullet hole through his shoulder, that raises red flags. However, privacy regulations currently prevent the consular officer from warning CSIS (or any other government entity for that matter) of the individual's circumstances and impending arrival. Similarly, if Foreign Affairs becomes aware of dual-use technology destined for Iran or North Korea, the department does not have the authority to notify CSIS. And even if it did, CSIS has no authority to disrupt that shipment. C-51 is enabling departments to share data. And enable is the operative verb here. C-51 is not the Patriot Act. Data are shared only on the intentional premise of enabling security, not in a broad catchall fashion.

Measures of detention that are clearly distinct from arrest



Other than running surveillance on terror suspects or arresting them, the options in Canada are pretty sparse. Arresting someone is difficult because that means having enough evidence for the Crown to have a reasonable chance at obtaining a conviction. The problem in Canada is that the evidentiary threshold for anti-terrorism detentions is just about equivalent to arrest. In fact, Peace bonds have only been used eight times in Canada, in two separate cases. C-51 proposes to lower the threshold to impose recognizance or a peace bond on a suspect, extends the period of judicial remand for recognizance, and the duration of peace bonds. Consent from the Attorney-General must be retained before an application can move forward. In effect, these measures will allow limitations to be imposed on individuals, such as on their mobility or Internet use, without having to charge them, and keeping them out of jail, so long as they abide by their conditions. Had the RCMP succeeded in getting a peace bond in place against Martin Couture-Rouleau, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent would likely still be alive today. Environmentalists, animal-rights activists, First Nations and just about anyone else concerned about the impact of these provisions on peaceful protest should remember that the aforementioned measures need to meet both, the terrorism threshold and the national security threshold, and that the Crown needs to demonstrate intent.

