It was a moving moment. The sister of the murdered soldier Patrice Vincent testifying before committee studying Bill C-51.
But it also symbolized the ghastly way the Cons are running the hearing. For they will not hear from the Canadian Bar Association or the Privacy Commissioner.
But they will turn it into a star chamber, and demand to know whether those testifying are with them or the terrorists.
And they will appeal to emotion rather than reason.
The sister of a Canadian soldier killed by a man with jihadist sympathies spoke out in favour of the Conservative government’s controversial anti-terror legislation, saying Bill C-51 is needed to prevent future attacks in the country.
Louise Vincent said government agencies must stop working in silos and share information, which would be made easier by the provisions in Bill C-51. She told the committee that she sees many “positives” in the bill and is not worried that it would infringe on Canadians’ rights.
“So this, C-51, is important,” she said, before adding in French: “Patrice Vincent must not have died in vain.”
Because although I feel very sorry for Louise Vincent, the fact is she's wrong. The sharing of information doesn't require legislation just better coordination. The bill is a monstrosity.
And Patrice Vincent, the good soldier, WILL have died in vain...
If Stephen Harper is allowed to use his death to turn us into a police state.
Because let's be clear, giving CSIS even more powers, without any proper oversight, would be an act of madness.
For that secretive organization already has all the powers and the tools it needs to disrupt the terrorists and/or our democracy.
Top-secret documents obtained by the CBC show Canada's electronic spy agency has developed a vast arsenal of cyberwarfare tools alongside its U.S. and British counterparts to hack into computers and phones in many parts of the world, including in friendly trade countries like Mexico and hotspots like the Middle East.
The CSE toolbox includes the ability to redirect someone to a fake website, create unrest by pretending to be another government or hacker, and siphon classified information out of computer networks, according to experts who viewed the documents.
And although CSIS is not supposed to spy on Canadians, if there is no proper oversight, who is to stop them?
And leaving a beast like that roaming loose without a leash, or being walked by Stephen Harper would be a real nightmare.
And among other things the death of internet freedom...
But the good news is more and more Canadians are starting to recognize that danger, and the resistance is growing.
Steve Anderson of Openmedia.ca told the public safety committee Monday that his digital-rights group has collected more than 100,000 signatures against Bill C-51.
The more Canadian understand the bill's dangers, the less they like it...
And when Stephen Harper rams the bill through parliament, even less will like it, and even more will hate him and his filthy Con regime.
So it will be a big issue in the next election campaign.
And as I predicted a while back, the bill that he would use to bury our democracy.
Could end up burying him instead...
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10 comments:
I heard a bit of what Louise Vincent said on the CBC news. My reaction was, well the Cons are sinking lower and lower (hard to believe they could--it must be a bottomless pit).
My next reaction was :Louise Vincent is a security or legal expert? Probably not, so what was she doing there? The Cons are lowering hearings to the level of a US Senate hearing.
It's unfortunate that Louise Vincent feels that way(coerced perhaps)but the facts are that Patrice's murderer was on the RCMP's radar without the odious Bill C-51. She should be asking Harper why he cut their budget and had he not, would the resources have been there to stop the attack before it happened.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tory-mp-supports-calls-for-legislative-oversight-of-anti-terror-bill/article23587566/
Fortunately Simon this ghastly con scheme Bill C-51 will never ever stand up to a Constitutional challenge in Harper's hated Supreme Court of Canada...
Cheers,
Mogs
I think I'll go out for a bicycle ride...
hi jrkrideau...yes they must be very close to the bottom of that pit. As I said in my post, I feel very sorry for Louise Vincent, but when she's invited and the Canadian Bar Association and the Privacy Commissioner are not, something is terribly wrong. But that's where the Cons would take us ,away from the rule of law and into the hands of the mob...
hi anonymous...well I forgive Vincent for saying what she did, Her grief must be blinding her, and it's only natural. But who I can't forgive are the Cons for using her for their crass political purposes. It's beastly and just about as low as you can go...
hi Hugh...yes I saw that and thought of using it in my post. But it was getting a bit long, and when I saw that Chong still intends to vote for the bill, I decided against it. Still, it is encouraging that even some Cons are criticizing the lack of oversight. The fact that a bill like that one is even being given serious consideration is simply insane...
hi Mogs...yes you're right. It won't be THAT easy because it has been written in a way to make challenging one part compromise another. But hopefully the courts will throw up enough roadblocks, until we can scrap it after we defeat the Cons...
So what it boils down to is we have to revoke our civil liberties because one man got killed. Now does that make sense?
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Hell, here in B.C. about 160 people a year are killed in drunk and distracted driving accidents. The government hasn't revoked anyone's civil rights by invoking something akin to a war measures act.
harper says an inquiry into the murder of 1,200 First Nations women isn't on his "radar" and hasn't spend one extra nickel on finding out who murdered all these women. Now he wants to change our countries laws and violate our constitution because one or 2 men were killed. What this tells me is 2 men are more important than 1,200 women. Sort of reminds me of the Taliban and their attitude towards women.
You mean the same way every December 6th, the graves of 14 women are danced upon to justify putting legal gun owners on a government watch list?
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