Bill C-2, which has lawful access buried in its provisions, has sparked a petition from Open Media.
Earlier this month, I wrote an analysis on Bill C-2’s lawful access provisions. Lawful access is something I have been fighting against since 2005. In a nutshell, lawful access allows police to access your personal information through your provider and eliminates the need for a warrant to obtain anything and everything your provider has on you. It essentially turns Canada into a police state from the internet’s perspective.
Throughout the years, there have been numerous different ways in which various Canadian governments have been trying to break down the right to privacy. One method was to try and pass a watered down version by requiring providers hand over subscriber information and not necessarily the contents of the messages being posted or sent to people. The government falsely stated that such a measure is nothing more than just looking up a phone number in a phone book. This despite the copious amount of evidence that this is still a very powerful form of surveillance anyway.
Knowing that lawful access is a hugely unpopular idea among Canadian’s, another attempt was made by getting lawful access through the backdoor by getting the courts to sign off on such an idea. A case made it all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada back in 2023 which was set to decide whether or not an IP address is personal information. The idea is to try and argue that an IP address isn’t personal information and, therefore, the police can demand that IP address without needing a warrant. In early 2024, the ruling came down that said that yes, an IP address is personal information. Therefor, the police need a warrant for such information. Since this is the Supreme Court of Canada, that decision is, in fact, final. There’s nothing to appeal.
With a committee in 2017 recommending against lawful access, the hope was that this was finally the end of the road for lawful access. The courts ruled that even an IP address requires a warrant, there is no public appetite for it, and lawmakers were already skeptical about this.
Unfortunately, Prime Minister, Mark Carney, had other plans. This time, the idea is to stuff warrantless wiretapping provisions in a so-called “border security” bill known as Bill C-2 – also known as a “border security” bill. Obviously, warrantless wiretapping has little to do with border security measures, but Carney knows that warrantless wiretapping is not something that will win over very much support. So, the strategy appears to be to smuggle warrantless wiretapping into the lawbooks through the border security bill. This while giving a nervous smile to Canadian’s, hoping no one will notice. Obviously, it didn’t go unnoticed and there has been a huge uproar over the provisions that were stashed away inside a mattress.
With the illicit baggies of anti-privacy provisions out in full view, Carney now faces the prospect that his bill might get delayed as Canadian’s start asking questions as to what Carney was doing with these provisions. We ran our full analysis of the provisions and they are as every bit scary as all the other attempts in the past. Others are also coming to the same conclusions as we are. So, the question is, what can ordinary Canadians do to show their displeasure about this legislation?
Well, one idea would be to sign a petition that Open Media has available. Here’s Open Media’s explanation of things:
It’s a surrender of our rights and our sovereignty, designed for just one thing: appeasing President Trump.
In a shameful bid to win trade concessions from the United States, Prime Minister Carney is putting Canadian rights and values up for sale.
Your privacy is first on the chopping block. Bill C-2 would allow police and spies to demand, without a warrant, that anyone in Canada reveal if you have an account with them, and how long you’ve had it for. With a judge’s approval, they could go much further, gain access to far more sensitive records, like your contact lists and location history.
The worst part? Authorities only need to suspect your information might assist their investigation under any Act of Parliament, not just serious crimes. Their surveillance tendrils will go well beyond victims and suspects, covering friends, family, colleagues and bystanders. There’s no clear limit on how far Bill C-2’s spying could reach!
It gets worse still: Bill C-2 sets up surveillance of Canadians for the US and global autocracies too. Bill C-2’s text mirrors a controversial UN cybercrime treaty, creating a two-way street for data demands — not just from Canada to other countries, but from these states back to Canada.
Does all of this sound like Canada to you? Not to us! But it’s a wishlist of changes President Trump wants from us, and unless we fight C-2 now, he’s going to get it!
So, basically, what I’ve been warning about this legislation as well. Obviously, Canadian’s can write their own MP about this issue as well, but if you’re not used to writing letters to your MP and don’t feel comfortable, you can also use the petition above as well. It’s one way Canadian’s can show they are opposed to this whole idea in the first place. They did it in the past and it would be good way to remind lawmakers that nothing has changed over the decades. Lawful access is still something Canadian’s do not want.
you know Im suprised they havent said anything about s-209 yet. though I sapose till its in the house there is nothing much to do about it. that being said when the senate returns it is being sent to a ‘legal and constitutional affairs’ committee… hopefully we can get that committee to see the obvious constitutional problems with the bill