Is Justin Trudeau Canada’s first post-modern, terrorist-friendly prime minister?
by Brad Salzberg
October 9, 2023
In what seems like a lifetime ago, in May, 2015 the ruling Conservative government of Canada added six augmentations to Canada’s federal Anti-Terrorism Act.
Bill-C51 included the following measures:
- It creates a new terrorism offence that criminalizes knowingly advocating or promoting “terrorism offences in general” while aware of the possibility that someone else “may” commit such an offence;
- It allows the preventive arrest and detention of a person if it is “likely” to prevent a terrorist activity that a “peace officer” reasonably believes “may” be carried out;
- It creates the new concept of “terrorist propaganda” and allows a judge to order the deletion of such material from the internet;
- It gives the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) the power to take measures to reduce “threats to the security of Canada”, even if doing so would violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or other Canadian law;
- It allows government institutions to share information with each other about “activities that undermine the security of Canada.”
- It codifies the Minister’s ability to put Canadians on a “no-fly list.”
In response to a run of ISIS and militant Islamic terrorism which had plagued the world for the past several years, former PM Stephen Harper added to the current policy, ratcheting up potential for a more rigorous crackdown on terrorist activity in Canada.
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