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In a joint statement, the two organizations challenging the law said Tuesday that key elements violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms “in a manner that is not justified in a free and democratic society.”

The Conservatives brought in the bill to fight homegrown extremism after two Canadian soldiers were murdered last October just days apart by lone, jihad-inspired killers.

The government and its senior officials have consistently defended the legislation as constitutional.

“This bill is crafted with very reasonable measures,” Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said Tuesday in Vancouver.

“I leave it to the court to make their own view and analysis of the bill. We’re pretty confident that this bill is there for the right reason, to protect Canadians, and that it will stand any challenge that it could face.”

Civil libertarians and privacy advocates have strongly opposed giving CSIS the power to derail suspected plots — for instance, by meddling with computers, cancelling airline reservations or carrying out even riskier operations.

With its new mandate, CSIS needs “reasonable grounds to believe” there is a security threat before taking measures to disrupt it.

The spy agency would require a court warrant whenever proposed disruption measures violate the Charter of Rights or otherwise breach Canadian law.

The notice of application in the court challenge says the measures amount to “an extraordinary inversion” of the time-honoured role of the courts and the principles of fundamental justice by asking the judiciary, and not Parliament, to authorize limits on charter rights “as opposed to protecting such rights and preventing their violation.”