Bill C-38 was presented as a budget bill, but it was lumped in all sorts of extras: Changes to Old Age Security eligibility, Employment Insurance, environmental oversight and laws impacting fisheries.
You name it, it was probably there.
If that seems heavy-handed and flying in the face of a government being for the people and by the people, there’s more.
Last week, Manitoba’s senior minister, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, revealed the Canada Border Services Agency had recently bugged some Canadian airports to monitor conversations.
There was a backlash from the federal privacy watchdog, and Toews said there will be more due diligence before the equipment is turned on again.
On the upside, the process was reasonably above board.
Toews said it’s important the people who protect our borders have the best tools available, but that it’s also important the privacy of all Canadians be respected.
All Canadians want this country to be safe, but few think our privacy should fall victim so easily.
What we can’t forget is this kind of government snooping and surveillance of everyday people is the hallmark of totalitarian regimes of every stripe.
The Nazi Gestapo and Soviet KGB kept a close eye on everyone, insurgents and citizens alike, to keep the populace under their thumb.
And cynics and conspiracy theorists are bolstered when we watch governments, especially in the U.S., rationalize almost anything thanks to the catch-all premise of Homeland Security.
Wars have been fought, our rights and freedoms compromised and now our ability to chat privately at the airport or border crossings undermined — all in the name of keeping us safe.
What we saw last week was Canada’s privacy watchdog at work.
What we really need to watch for is the next omnibus, catch-all bill that begins to make its way through the House.
If there is something in there that takes away some of the authority of the privacy commissioner, we should really be concerned.
Original Article
Source: ottawa sun
Author: Editorial
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