Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is facing stiffer opposition to its Bill C-51, following a letter signed by 60 business leaders opposing the anti-terrorism legislation. | CP
It looks like the digital world is lining up against the Harper government’s Bill C-51.
A group of prominent executives from many of Canada’s tech companies has signed a letter addressed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, asking him “to scrap this reckless, dangerous and ineffective legislation.”
The bill could harm Canada’s economy by undermining international trust in Canadian businesses and jeopardizing the country’s online presence, the business leaders said in the letter published Wednesday.
“Bill C-51 provides too much leeway for the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) to take unjustified actions against our businesses, including the takedown of websites,” the letter states.
“As it stands, C-51 criminalizes language in excessively broad terms that may place the authors of innocent tweets and the operators of online platforms such as Facebook, and Twitter, along with Canada’s Hootsuite and Slack, at risk of criminal sanction for activities carried out on their sites.”
Among the signatories are the heads of many Canadian tech startups, including Ryan Holmes, founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Hootsuite; Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify (which just filed for an IPO); and Tim Bray, principal at Textuality Services and a co-founder of OpenText, Canada’s largest software company.
The letter appeared on the website of OpenMedia, whose petition against Bill C-51 has garnered nearly 200,000 signatures.
The business leaders expressed concern about the bill’s expansion of intelligence services’ powers, and suggested the move could take away a key advantage that Canadian tech companies have over U.S. competitors.
“We know that many of our clients, including our government, will only host services in Canada because of the invasive privacy issues in the U.S.,” the letter stated. “The U.S. tech industry has already lost billions in revenue because of this, and we don’t want it to happen here.”
It noted that “new CSE digital disruption activities can include measures such as the false attribution of disreputable content to individuals, and even planting of malware on individual computing devices.”
The letter came the same day the harper government unveiled its 2015 budget, which included $292.6 million in new funding for anti-terrorism activities, which covers the cost of the new legislation.
The letter acknowledges that the Harper government has admitted the bill has flaws and plans to amend it, but those changes “do not adequately address the underlying concerns” the business leaders have about the bill.
The letter is not the first time the tech community has expressed displeasure with Bill C-51. In a blog post last month, Mozilla, the project behind the Firefox browser, argued the bill would “undermine user trust, threaten the openness of the Web, and reduce the security of the Internet and its users.”
The bill appears to have lost much of its support in the months since it was announced. An initial poll showed 82 per cent of Canadians supported the bill in the days after it was announced; a recent survey from Forum Research pegged support at 33 per cent.
The government says bill, put forward in the wake of the Parliament Hill shooting last year, is necessary to combat the terrorist threats facing Canada.
It would give the Canadian Security Intelligence Service the power to act to prevent terrorist attacks; to date, its mandate was only to gather information, and only outside Canada.
Critics say arming CSIS in effect creates a “secret police” that risks undermining Canadian rights and freedoms.
The bill would also allow much easier sharing of federally held information, and would make it easier for police to make preventative arrests to stop a suspected terrorist act.
Read the entire letter at OpenMedia.
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The Liberal Party of Canada is supporting the federal government's controversial anti-terror legislation, but the party has called for several amendments. Justin Trudeau has said that if the following changes are not made to Bill C-51 before it passes, Liberals will do so if they win the next federal election. (Courtesy of The Canadian Press)
Creation of a national security committee of parliamentarians with up to six MPs and three senators
Expiry of certain provisions after three years, unless Parliament decides to renew them.
A comprehensive parliamentary review of the bill after three years.
Removal of the word "lawful'' from a section that states the bill's information-sharing provisions do not apply to "lawful advocacy, protest, dissent and artistic expression.''
A guarantee that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's new disruptive powers would not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
An annual report from the privacy commissioner on information-sharing conducted under the law.
UP NEXT: Details Of Anti-Terror Bill
The Conservatives have tabled an anti-terror bill that will give Canada's spy agency more power to thwart suspected terrorists. Here are 5 things you need to know. (Information courtesy of The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service will get new powers to actively disrupt terrorism plots, instead of just collecting information about them. CSIS would need "reasonable grounds to believe'' there was a security threat before taking measures to disrupt it and would need a court warrant whenever proposed disruption measures violate the Charter of Rights or otherwise breach Canadian law.
The spy agency will also be allowed to wage cyberwar, by disrupting radical websites and Twitter accounts aimed at impressionable young Canadians. The RCMP would be allowed seek a judge's order to remove terrorist propaganda from the Internet.
The new law will make it easier for the RCMP to obtain a peace bond, a legal tool that could order suspects to surrender passports or report to police regularly. In the past, the Mounties had to hold a reasonable belief that someone "will commit" a terrorism offence before they could get such a bond. Now, the threshold will be a fear that someone "may commit'' an offence.
The legislation would expand the no-fly regime to cover those who seek to travel by air to take part in terrorist activities, allowing authorities to keep would-be extremists off planes. Under current law, that can only be done to counter an immediate risk to the aircraft.
The legislation would make it a criminal offence to encourage someone to carry out a terrorism attack. It also would allow police to arrest someone without a warrant and hold them for up to seven days before a hearing. That's up from the three-day maximum under current law.
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Police teams enter Centre Block at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014.
Ottawa police patrol along the Elgin St. steps near the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada, Oct. 22, 2014.
RCMP and Ottawa police cruisers on Wellington St. stand guard after a shooting at the National War Memorial near the Canadian Parliament Oct. 22, 2014.
Ottawa police direct traffic on Elgin St. near the National War Memorial, Oct. 22, 2014.
An Ottawa police officer stands guard on Wellington St. after a shooting occurred at the National War Memorial near the Canadian Parliament Oct. 22, 2014.
An Ottawa police office draws her weapon outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014.
Police teams move towards Centre Block at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014.
An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014.
An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014.
Police secure an area around Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014.
A soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial was shot by an unknown gunman and people reported hearing gunfire inside the halls of Parliament.
Paramedics and police pull a shooting victim away from the Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014. A Canadian soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa has been shot by an unknown gunman and there are reports of gunfire inside the halls of Parliament.
An RCMP intervention team runs next to a Parliament building in Ottawa Wednesday Oct.22, 2014. A Canadian soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa has been shot by an unknown gunman and there are reports of gunfire inside the halls of Parliament.
RCMP intervention team members walk past a gate on Parliament hill in Ottawa.
A soldier, police and paramedics tend to a soldier shot at the National Memorial near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014.
Police secure an area around Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014. A gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, wounding a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill and wounded a security guard before he was shot, reportedly by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.
Police secure an area around Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014. A gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, wounding a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill and wounded a security guard before he was shot, reportedly by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.
Police and paramedics tend to a soldier shot at the National Memorial near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014. Police are expanding a perimeter around Parliament Hill after a gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, wounding a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill where he was reportedly shot by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms after wounding a security guard.
Heavily-armed RCMP officers arrive at 24 Sussex Drive, the residence of Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014.
Civilians leave a secured area around Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014. Police are expanding a perimeter around Parliament Hill after a gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, wounding a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill where he was reportedly shot by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms after wounding a security guard.The Hill remains under lockdown amid reports there may be two to three shooters, according to a senior official locked in the Official Opposition Leaders' office.
Police teams move towards Centre Block at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014. A gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, wounding a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill and wounded a security guard before he was shot, reportedly by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.
An Ottawa police office draws her weapon in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014. Police are expanding a security perimeter in the heart of the national capital after a gunman opened fire and wounded a soldier at the National War Memorial before injuring a security guard on Parliament Hill, where he was reportedly shot dead by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.
An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014.Police are expanding a security perimeter in the heart of the national capital after a gunman opened fire and wounded a soldier at the National War Memorial before injuring a security guard on Parliament Hill, where he was reportedly shot dead by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.
People under lockdown look out of an office building near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014. A gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, wounding a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill and wounded a security guard before he was shot, reportedly by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.
Police search cars and pedestrians as they leave the Alexandra Bridge and enter Gatineau, Que. near the Parliament Buildings during an active shooter situation in Ottawa on Wednesday, October 22, 2014.
Police officers take cover in Ottawa on Wednesday Oct.22, 2014.Police are expanding a security perimeter in the heart of the national capital after a gunman opened fire and wounded a soldier at the National War Memorial before injuring a security guard on Parliament Hill, where he was reportedly shot dead by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.
Traiffic is stopped below Parliament Hill during a lock down in the downtown core of Ottawa after a member of the Canadian Armed Forces was shot in Ottawa, Wednesday October 22, 2014.
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Prime minister's limo and protection detail at 24 Sussex Drive.
East Block of Parliament.
Bank of Canada building.
National Capital Commission display titled "Representations of Canada" in Confederation Square.
Roadblock on Elgin Street.
Bus shelter on Parliament Hill.
Prime Minister's Office, Langevin Block.
Israeli Embassy.
Government buildings on Laurier Avenue.
Embassy of the Unites States of America.
Photojournalists on Wellington Street.
Taxation Centre at 875 Heron Road.
Confederation Boulevard.
Public Service Alliance of Canada headquarters.
RCMP Headquarters.