Bill C-13 Is the New C-30

Thirteen. Thirty. Eh, close enough.

It seems that the Conservatives have tried to slip a wolf into the hen house. In this case the wolf is not dressed in sheep’s clothing but robed in the justifiable public sympathy for victims of online harassment.One can’t be faulted for wondering if the government will resort to the refrain of ‘you are either with us or with the cyberbullies’.

The closing sentences of criminal lawyer, Michael Spratt’s piece on Bill C-13 pretty much sums up what we’re dealing with here. (I’m basically paraphrasing him throughout most of this.) I highly recommend reading it for a more detailed legal analysis.

Let’s back up a bit, though. If you've been following #cdnpoli over the last year or so, you may remember when then Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews declared “You’re either with us or with the child pornographers” to critics of Bill C-30. It was tabled under a proclamation that it was meant to fight child pornography. It included within it a stipulation that peace officers and police would not require a warrant to obtain information from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) about suspected child pornographers and distributors of child pornography. It was the government’s attempt to use a highly charged topic to shove through invasive surveillance laws.

The public’s backlash to both Toews’ statement and the attempt itself was fierce so the Conservatives eventually relented. They assured Canadians that they wouldn't be reintroducing legislation that would mirror Bill C-30. That’s “kinda” true. In Bill C-13, the Conservatives have tabled a bill that carries similar controversial means of invading the privacy of law-abiding Canadians without proper oversight and are again hiding behind a banner (the fight against cyber-bullying) in order to pass unrelated legislation. I mean, can anyone explain to me why stealing cable has to be addressed in a bill about cyber-bullying? Do people still steal cable? That’s still a thing? (Wait ‘til the government learns about Netflix!)

The bulk of opposition against C-30 was regarding the “warrantless surveillance” it stipulated. C-13 differs in that instead of allowing police to obtain private information from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) without the need of a warrant, it provides criminal and civic immunity to ISPs who “voluntarily” provide private information on their subscribers when “requested.” Moreover, the basis for requests can simply be based on suspicion—not reasonable and provable grounds.

This is another example of the ongoing perversion of Parliament when it comes to the now regular tabling of omnibus bills by the Conservatives (who, incidentally, have a majority, so… why?). When a collection of unrelated bills are tabled as one, this reduces the ability for specific items to be discussed since (as we’ve seen with C-30 and we are now seeing again with C-13) you either accept the bill in its entirety, or voice concerns with individual elements and be labelled as defending criminal behaviour. Moreover, the individual bits that make up the package are subject to far less scrutiny and debate since they are not being presented as their own pieces of legislation.

Yes, we need up-to-date legislation to deal with cyber-bullying, and yes, we need strengthened legislation that protects the vulnerable from being exploited. How could any of the parties be able to argue a child pornography bill that focuses solely on those crimes? It would likely get passed unanimously. Internet surveillance, though? Ah, well that’s tougher because the public does actually care about who can see our data. Better to stick that in with something that will undoubtedly carry emotional resonance. That way when your opponents voice their (valid) criticism, you can spin it as, “Oh, they want to coddle child molesters!”

Remember, the NSA was operating in the shadows. It took Edward Snowden’s leaks to expose their panopticon. Here in Canada, our government is attempting to enable it right out in front of our faces.

It’s fitting that in Canadian politics they’re still asking permission to spy on us.