OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — The Canadian federal Liberal government has introduced a new bill that, if passed, would allow law enforcement the “unprecedented power” to monitor and search Canadians’ online digital activity without a warrant.
On Thursday, Canada’s Public Safety Minister, Gary Anandasangaree, introduced Bill C-22, known as “An Act respecting lawful access.”
This bill was introduced purportedly to address privacy concerns relating to another bill, Bill C-2, which 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 very concerning language, largely taken from Bill C-2, regarding Canadians’ online privacy.
Regarding Bill C-22, dubbed a “lawful access” bill, Anandasangaree claimed, in speaking to reporters Thursday, “It is not about surveillance of Canadians going on about their daily lives” but “about keeping Canadians safe in the online space.”
“We listened to what they had to say, and this new legislation, Bill C-22, balances the needs of law enforcement with the privacy and civil rights that Canadians demand,” he claimed.
However, the bill states that electronic service providers must establish and maintain the ability for law enforcement to have at its disposal “timely, lawfully authorized communications or information.”
Bill C-22 also states that this can be requested on the grounds of “reasonable suspicion” by police.
Police would be allowed to request electronic service providers to provide “basic subscriber information” about their customers, including location and identification.
Cops would need judicial authorization to get extra information, however.
Also, Bill C-22 requires telecommunications companies to be able to track users’ locations at all times.
The bill would also allow a judge to authorize police to obtain more information from a person’s internet and phone provider, including information from social media companies and AI firms. Companies, however, would not be required to share information; it remains to be seen whether that would be the case.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) head, John Carpay, has warned about Bill C-2 before, and the text that is now in Bill C-22.
He observed how such a bill would grant law enforcement “unprecedented powers to monitor Canadians’ digital activity,” without any “judicial oversight.”
“Any online service provider—including social media and cloud platforms, email domain hosts and even smaller service providers—would be compelled to disclose subscriber information and metadata,” he warned.
Another bill in Canada, C-11, also known as the Online Streaming Act, was passed in 2023, and Carpay warned that the bill “undermines net neutrality.” Bill C-11 mandates that Big Tech companies pay to publish Canadian content on their platforms. As a result, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, blocked all access to news content in Canada.
The Liberal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went after Canadians’ bank accounts before. In 2022, it froze the bank accounts of those who donated to the Freedom Convoy against COVID mandates.
Trudeau’s legacy of censorship bills has continued with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Indeed, Bill C-9, known as the “Combating Hate Act” is soon set to become law once it gets Senate approval. This bill opens the door to the criminalization of religious expression and belief when quoting certain parts of the Bible.
As for Carney, he has globalist ties and was called the World Economic Forum’s “golden boy” by CPC leader Pierre Poilievre. Carney has also admitted he is an “elitist” and a “globalist.”
