(LifeSiteNews) – People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier called a new Liberal federal bill that, if passed, would empower the government to ban anyone’s internet access a “digital guillotine” designed to “silence critics.”
“I want to talk to you about a number that should send a chill down your spine: Bill C-8. The Liberals are trying to set it as a cybersecurity bill. Don’t believe them. This bill is a digital guillotine,” Bernier said in a recent X video post.
Bernier said that Bill C-8, named “An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts,” would give unprecedented power to federal officials with no due process.
He said it gives a “single politician in Ottawa the power to cut off your internet with a stroke of a pen without a warrant, without a trial, without even telling you why.”
“They can disconnect you and then they can gag you from even talking about it,” he warned.
Bernier noted how this bill is “about granting the state unprecedented authority to silence critics and control access to information.”
“They say it’s for hackers, but what about a journalist who asks tough questions? What about a protester they want to silence? What about you if you dare to criticize them?” he asked.
“This is not just about cybersecurity. It’s about control.”
Bernier said that for Canadians the “internet is our voice, our liberty.”
“Let’s fight together for our freedom,” he added.
Bill C-8, which is now in its second reading in the House of Commons, was introduced in June by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and has a provision in which the federal government could stop “any specified person” from accessing the internet.
The bill contains a clause that mandates all internet providers to pull internet services from anyone whom the government demands.
If passed, it would allow the industry minister to “prohibit a telecommunications service provider from providing any service to any specified person” without a warrant. The only recourse a banned person would have is after the order is given. They would have to get a federal court to look at the ban order for a judicial review.
The federal government under Carney claims that the bill is a way to stop “unprecedented cyber-threats.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Canadian Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne admitted that he was never consulted on Bill C-8.
Many experts have spoken out against the bill, warning of its Orwellian-like powers.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) blasted the bill as troublesome, saying it needs to “fix” the “dangerous flaws” in the bill before it becomes law.
