Speaking to reporters on the way in to the Conservative caucus meeting this morning – the first since a lone gunman breached House of Commons security and died in a gunfight with security officials and police – MacKay said the internet-based tools being used to radicalize young Canadians is one of the elements Justice officials are studying.
“We have looked at other jurisdictions, the U.K in particular, and they have legislation that we have been examining,” MacKay responded when asked whether the government was considering whether it was considering legislation to prohibit people on the web from condoning terrorism.
“There’s no question that the whole issue around radicalization and the type of material that is often used that we think is inappropriate and we think, quite frankly, can contribute to…the poisoning of young minds, that this is something that needs to be examined. The type of material, the type of images…. I don’t like the word glorification (but) it is a form of promotion.”
Any move in that direction, however, would have to have a legal framework, he said.
“You deal with it in an objective standard and you deal with it in some cases in terms of determining whether material is removed or goes further, removed from the web or whether it is material that actually contributes to the proliferation of terrorism or conversion.
“I always would come down on the side of having judicial oversight for some of those decisions before you would make any type of intervention.”
MacKay’s comments come as debate is swirling in the wake of last week’s attack on Canada’s response and whether laws must be changed to give police and intelligence services more powers to counter potential terrorist threats.
MacKay said his department is reviewing existing legislation.
“We’re taking the time obviously to look at a number of acts including the criminal code for measures that go specifically to the heart of prevention.”
“We have had a lot of very capable people within the department of justice, including our prosecutors who I have spoken to this week, examining the tools that we already have.”
However, it is important to maintain the right balance, the justice minister said.
“We’re doing this in concert with public safety. We’re doing it in a way that is really focused not only on thresholds but the practical application of the current sections and whether they are sufficient. We’re not going to upset that balance that requires police to make that very important evidentiary determination.”
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca/
Author: Elizabeth Thompson
No comments:
Post a Comment