This story originally appeared in our June 10, 2015 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe lack of definition of what could be considered encouraging terrorist propaganda could also entangle journalists and those who may want to use media in order to display their opinions and criticisms of the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re broadcasting, if you\u2019re a journalist just quoting what someone told you, now you could be brought in as spreading terrorist propaganda. You know, the concern for activists is that they\u2019ll be seen as an enemy, or the language used is broad enough to engulf them as terrorists,\u201d says Reeve.<\/p>\n
In Bill C-51, any \u201cactivity that undermines the security of Canada\u201d is considered terrorism, which includes interfering with defence and border operations or public safety and activities that may interfere with the economic or financial security of Canada. This vague terminology is particularly concerning to those protesting pipelines, for example, as that may be perceived as economic interference.<\/p>\n
Shayli Robinson, a Camosun Indigenous Studies and Political Science student and anti-Bill-C-51 activist, is particularly concerned because of her indigenous heritage.<\/p>\n
\u201cA simple peaceful blockade on a logging road could be seen or classified as a threat to national security,\u201d says Robinson, who is also the Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) Lansdowne executive. \u201cIt\u2019s really frustrating because they\u2019re just trying to stand up for their rights, and that would be stopping a company from doing their work, which could be seen as putting strain on the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camosun students should be aware of how the increased sharing of information within the government affects them. Any criminal linkages to activism perceived as terrorism will remain in government information files for years to come. They could possibly hinder future job opportunities, which then brings in the idea that Canadians may practice self-censorship for fear of repercussions.<\/p>\n
CCSS external executive Andrea Eggenbegger fears for Camosun students\u2019 privacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can share information about people freely without a warrant, which is really scary, so students\u2019 information could be shared, as long as they can say that it is to monitor the threat to national security. The really annoying thing about all of the awful things in this bill is that there is no real bar set as to what it really is; a lot of it is just up to their discretion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chill effect<\/strong><\/p>\nThe NDP\u2019s Rankin has been particularly outspoken about the issues with Bill C-51 (as has the rest of his party in the House of Commons). He is concerned about the psychological repercussions of Canadians being aware they are under constant survey, something he calls \u201cthe chill effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rankin says that the chill effect happens when the fear of being placed under government suspicion for saying or doing certain things deters them from acting. He believes this is exactly what the Conservative government wants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re scaring you, making you fear that you\u2019ll be on some list somewhere and that\u2019ll affect you getting a job. There\u2019s a chilling effect, and I think that is one of the most dangerous things for Camosun students.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CCSS\u2019 Eggenberger is concerned that part of that chilling effect would hit activists, who may feel too intimidated to raise awareness about issues that are of concern to citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cActivists really move our country along in such an important way and they\u2019re changing the way the country thinks and the way we\u2019re run,\u201d says Eggenberger. \u201cPutting that pressure on government is how government makes changes. We need to be very vocal in what matters to Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n
On campus, professors may also think twice before voicing certain opinions in the classroom or online. Self-censorship affects the way ideas are shared and prevents people from thinking about the world in a critical way, limiting the breadth of education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey may not be silenced, but chilled,\u201d says Camosun\u2019s Reeve. \u201cEven the professors who may have less mainstream views, they may feel chilled, looking over their shoulder wondering if their accounts are being bugged, if their e-mails are being bugged, as less mainstream views may be seen as a threat to security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strategic politics<\/strong><\/p>\nSome critics of Bill C-51 don\u2019t see it as a move to erase terrorism at all but a political tactic by the Conservative party to secure the Canadian vote in the upcoming federal election. As seen in the US during the Bush campaigns, instilling fear of the \u201cothers\u201d is a successful way to win voters over if the party promises to protect them from the threats.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re doing a lot of fear propaganda. I definitely think it\u2019s political,\u201d says Robinson. \u201cI think the Conservatives are losing popularity, the elections in Alberta show that, but what I think they\u2019re doing is creating problems and then trying to fix them to give themselves something to stand up on come election time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fact that the Liberals voted for a bill even though they voiced notable concerns about the way it was written is also disconcerting. Justin Trudeau says that the Liberal party will reform Bill C-51 if voted into office in October. Reeve says that rushing the bill through the House of Commons and limiting committee debates is just bad policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe committee is where they take a bill and basically bring in experts and outsiders and listen to what they have to say; well, they\u2019ve shortened those lists,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not the first time, but it\u2019s shocking for a bill that has such a large implication and has so much public intention. They\u2019re just willing to short-change the democratic review process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether one thinks that terrorism is an issue or not, the overall consensus is that Bill C-51 needs extensive reviews and reforms before being made law. Rankin questions why we need it at all, as Canadian government has been successful at intervening on a number of terrorist activities without such a bill in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat powers do we need that we don\u2019t already have? To catch the Toronto 18, to catch the people who tried to do the plot on Canada Day here at the legislature. The Harper government can\u2019t tell us why it would make us safer. That should give us pause,\u201d says Rankin. \u201cThey\u2019ve expanded the number of years that someone can be held in preventative detention. You know how many times we\u2019ve used those powers before? Zero. I believe this is all about the government wishing to make us think that the Conservatives are the only ones who care about national security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, a Conservative representative could not be reached for comment; no one in support of Bill C-51 was willing to speak for this story. Indeed, even finding those in support is extremely difficult. Professor Reeve says it is because Victoria is not in play as far as the Conservatives are concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing about it is the Conservatives\u2019 main concern is the national office; they\u2019re not going to give you a local read. Remember, you live in Victoria. You are not part of the municipal ridings in Toronto. That\u2019s the opinion they care about. It\u2019s basic politics. Areas they\u2019re last in are of no interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe likelihood that the Canadian people will be able to sway the senate\u2019s decision to pass Bill C-51 is up for debate, but we could slow the process, allowing more time to analyze, reform, and define the bill further. Although country-wide protests and concerns were ignored by government, it is still important for citizens to continue putting pressure on the government. Eggenbegger pleads for students not to allow government to make them feel ashamed to call themselves activists.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell them how disappointed you are with this decision, and how it is so problematic for Canada, as a country, to disable our activists and imply that activism is not a good thing. That\u2019s a new lesson that they\u2019re teaching the new generation: if you do an activist activity that it might come back to bite you. That shouldn\u2019t be the stigma. It should be that if you do an activist activity, good for you, you care about the country. Keep tweeting the government, keep speaking your mind, and go to as many rallies as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canadians also have a chance to make their opinions heard at the federal election in October; Reeve urges students to not allow a lack of understanding to prevent them from voting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they care about this bill, and they think it\u2019s one of the important things to think about while they\u2019re voting in the fall, they should see which candidates are against it. Politics aren\u2019t faraway things; students have the ability to understand how they affect their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rankin says that the bottom line is that Bill C-51 isn\u2019t going to make Canadians any safer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, of course, the government couldn\u2019t give us one good example of why they needed these new powers,\u201d he says, \u201cand at the same time, there is no question that it\u2019s going to make an impact on our civil liberties. Is this the kind of world that you want to create? Is this the Canada that you want, or do you think we can do better?\u201d<\/p>\n
Students can find Bill C-51 online at documentcloud.org\/documents\/1513457-bill-c-51.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood proudly in front of the Canadian flag at a Conservative party rally in January. There, in front of his supporters, he introduced Bill C-51 as anti-terrorism legislation in response to the October shooting on Parliament Hill. Despite many debates as to whether the event was in fact a terrorist attack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,145],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-june-10-2015"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10684"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10685,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10684\/revisions\/10685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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