Canadians warned about Liberal bill’s ‘serious threat to privacy rights’

CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — A top constitutional freedom legal group warned that a “dystopian” Liberal bill before the House, which would give police extra powers to monitor and search Canadians’ online digital activity without a warrant, is a “serious threat” to Canadians’ privacy rights.

“Privacy is the shield of a free people,” proclaimed John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), in a recent news release sent to LifeSiteNews.

“Canadians deserve security without sacrificing privacy.”

The JCCF said that it has now submitted a parliamentary brief to Canada’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security over Bill C-22.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Bill C-22 was introduced by Canadian Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, purportedly to address privacy concerns relating to another bill, Bill C-2, that would have permitted police and government officials to open and examine Canadians’ personal mail and would also ban cash donations over $10,000.

After backlash late last year about Bill C-2, Anandasangaree said he would rewrite portions of the bill. However, Bill C-22 contains concerning language largely taken from Bill C-2 regarding Canadians’ online privacy.

The JCCF said that Bill C-22 “poses a serious threat to Canadians’ privacy rights.”

The parliamentary brief, which was submitted to the Committee while it reviews the bill after its passing of second reading, looks at “two major privacy concerns within Bill C-22.”

“First, the bill would create a new production order allowing police to obtain detailed subscriber information, including names, addresses, account details, device identifiers, and information about the types of services a person receives, based on a standard of ‘reasonable suspicion’ rather than the higher constitutional standard of ‘reasonable grounds to believe’” the JCCF said.

This, according to the JCCF, could also apply to professionals such as “doctors, psychologists, lawyers, and counsellors, whose records may contain highly sensitive personal information.”

Second, Bill C-22 would enact the Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act (SAAIA), requiring electronic service providers across Canada “to retain metadata, including location and transmission data, for up to one year.”

“The brief warns that this would create a mandatory data retention and access regime through secret ministerial orders approved by an Intelligence Commissioner rather than a court, with strict gag provisions limiting public transparency,” the JCCF noted.

Last week, a collective of Canadian lawyers and top academics demanded in an open letter that Bill C-22 needs amendments, stating it has “serious constitutional concerns” that might violate the privacy and Charter rights of Canadians.

The JCCF recently launched a petition to try to stop the bill.

JCCF says Liberals’ bill as written clearly ‘violates’ the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

According to the JCCF, the provisions in Bill C-22 violate section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “which protects Canadians against unreasonable search and seizure.”

“According to the brief, Bill C-22 undermines Canadians’ reasonable expectation of privacy by lowering the threshold for accessing sensitive information and by compelling the creation and retention of data that would otherwise be deleted,” the JCCF noted.

The JCCF highlighted that courts in Europe have struck down “similar mandatory metadata retention laws as disproportionate and that comparable powers have led to documented abuses in other countries.”

As an example, Australia’s 2015 mandatory metadata retention scheme saw about 3,000 users’ data unlawfully accessed by police. This included journalists’ data, the JCCF stressed.

The JCCF has called for many amendments to Bill C-22, which includes the removal of the “proposed production order, eliminating mandatory data retention requirements, requiring full judicial oversight, and adding a sunset clause.”

“Without these changes, the Justice Centre argues that Bill C-22 should not proceed,” it noted.

Recently, Conservative MP Dr. Matt Straus warned against the bill, saying it would give extra powers to police to monitor and search Canadians’ online digital activity without a warrant.

The Democracy Fund (TDF), as reported by LifeSiteNews, recently warned that Bill C-22 will “erode privacy and civil rights” of citizens and is calling for the bill to be stopped.

Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s legacy of censorship bills has continued with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Bill C-9, the “Combating Hate Act,” was passed by the House of Commons earlier this week and now awaits Senate approval. The bill opens the door to criminalization of religious expression and belief when quoting certain parts of the Bible.

Carney has globalist ties and was called the World Economic Forum’s “golden boy” by Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. Carney has also admitted he is an “elitist” and a “globalist.”