Parliament passes new Copyright law; Geist says feds caved to U.S. on digital locks

Copyright legislation in Canada has finally been updated after two governments, four bills, and 15 years of debate, and while it’s long overdue and sorely needed, federal legislators could have done better, says Canada’s leading expert on copyright issues who criticized the federal government for caving to the United States on digital locks.

“You can’t overlook digital locks,” said University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist. “There’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that I think it represents both bad policy and it runs counter to what the government heard from tens of thousands of Canadians, and from the majority of the witnesses and was easily fixable, so it’s a huge disappointment that it wasn’t. That said, there is also I think a lot of good in this legislation. Those that would simply tar the bill as being awful, I think aren’t giving it a full fair read.”

'Baby steps' to US agents on Canadian soil: RCMP

The RCMP is planning to ease Canadians into the idea of United States law enforcement agents pursuing suspects across the land border and onto Canadian soil through "baby steps," say two top Mounties.

"We recognized early that this approach would raise concerns about sovereignty, of privacy, and civil liberties of Canadians," RCMP Chief Superintendent Joe Oliver, the Mounties' director general for border integrity, told the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence on May 14.

"We said 'Let's take baby steps, let's start with two agencies to test the concept, let's demonstrate to Canadians and Americans that such an approach might work."

Mike Cabana, RCMP deputy commissioner for federal policing, also used the metaphor for an incremental approach in comments he made just before Mr. Oliver's.

Canada's no-fly list: Who really controls Canadian airspace?

I wish I could answer the above question with absolute certainty. One thing is certain: Canada is not the only decision-maker when it comes to refusing air travellers on overseas trips, and on some selected domestic flights which pass through U.S. airspace. This fact made many civil rights activists question whether Canada has lost its airspace sovereignty.

I do not think the issue of the no-fly list (and its sister lists such as the screening list,) which operates under the nicely-labelled "Passenger Protect Program," has received the attention it deserves. Is it because only a segment of the population is affected (as those affected happen to be Muslims)? Or is it because the Canadian and the U.S. governments have kept a shroud of secrecy on how this list works and operates? All I know is that the negative impact of this list on civil liberties and on the lives of many innocent human beings has been significant: Lives have been destroyed, professionals who rely on their business travel to the U.S. to earn their living lost their main source of income, and worse of all, the psychological scars endured by those who are targeted by the list persist and may never go away.

Canadian training mission meant to free up U.S. soldiers for Afghan combat: documents

OTTAWA — Since the Canadian training mission in Afghanistan began last year, the federal government has said the purpose is to help Afghan army and police develop the skills needed to take responsibility for the country's security in 2014.

But shortly before visiting Afghanistan this past Christmas, Gov. Gen. David Johnston was told of another reason 950 Canadian troops have been deployed to Kabul and two other central Afghan cities: to free up United States soldiers for combat.

The statement is found in briefing notes that were prepared in advance of Johnston's visit to Afghanistan, Kuwait and HMCS Vancouver in the Mediterranean and obtained by Postmedia News through access to information.

Since the end of the combat mission, Canada has become the second-largest contributor to the NATO training mission in Afghanistan after the U.S., which has long complained about other nations not contributing sufficient military trainers.

Peter MacKay says global security, economics require closer U.S.-Canada military co-operation

STANFORD, CALIF.—The defence minister says there’s a greater need for stronger partnership between Canada and the U.S. in uncertain economic and political times.

But at the same time, NATO’s global partnership is in need of reform to function effectively in a complex security situation, Peter MacKay said in a set of speeches at Stanford University in California on Wednesday.

Domestic security issues begin internationally and it’s best to act before they happen, MacKay said.

Yet, the events of the Arab Spring show that expecting the unexpected has become the norm in preparing for global events, he said.

“These wide-ranging security requirements are further compounded by new fiscal realities forcing governments to make difficult budget and capability choices as they undertake their future defence investments in an effort to prepare for an uncertain future security landscape,” he said, according to a prepared text of his remarks.

Strong partnerships are one way to move forward, MacKay said.

The Harper government and Republican economics

The Harper Conservatives model their economic policies on beliefs held dear by American Republicans: just lower taxes, and reduce government, and business will create the wealth.

With this approach, not only is income becoming less equal as the OECD just noted, Canadians and Americans are not becoming wealthier. The "give business a tax break" and the "let the invisible hand of the market do the rest" policies are not improving life for Canadians or Americans.

As creation of real full-time jobs dries up, and precarious employment increases, more Canadians and Americans drop out of the fabled middle class each year. The loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs has seen to that, along with union busting, and attacks on minimum wages, and unemployment insurance.

The increase in the percentage of women in the paid labour force since 1980 has been the means by which some Canadian and American families have held on to a standard of living that used to guaranteed by one unionized manufacturing wage.

The major corporations who dominate the world economy have been shifting production off-shore for three decades, replacing relatively well-paid employees in the U.S., and Canada with low-paid employees in Asia, and other low-wage jurisdictions. Low wages once meant off-shore incomes insufficient to absorb offshore production, leading to sluggish business conditions. But lower cost goods were welcomed in North America where chronic high unemployment, and low wages reduced family purchasing power.

Military satellite project sparks secrecy concerns

The Conservative government’s plan to spend almost half a billion dollars on the construction of a U.S. military satellite is sparking concerns about the secrecy surrounding the project and about who will ultimately control the information it transmits.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay has heralded Canada’s proposed participation in the U.S. military’s Wideband Global Satcom network, pointing out that it is aimed at protecting Canada’s economy and businesses from cyber attack.

But military officers and space industry representatives it has nothing to do with foiling foreign cyber attacks or protecting commercial information from such strikes.

U.S. Maj.-Gen. Susan Mashiko, in charge of the country’s military satellite communications systems wing, has noted that Wideband Global Satcom will allow for faster communications with troops on the battlefield.

“It is primarily a satellite communications network,” added Canadian Department of National Defence spokesman Daniel Blouin.

But DND has been silent on the reasons behind the push to spend $477 million on joining the U.S. satellite program by the end of the year.