Vancouver group continues campaign against online surveillance bill

by Yolande Cole on May 24, 2012 at 11:00 am
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OpenMedia.ca is using a new video to continue their campaign against Bill C-30.

Videos

Videos

A Vancouver-based Internet advocacy group is hoping to keep the federal government’s controversial online surveillance bill on the public radar.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews recently quelched rumours that Bill C-30 would die on the order paper. According to media reports, Toews maintained the Internet surveillance legislation will be referred to a parliamentary committee before it goes to second reading.

Steve Anderson, the executive director of OpenMedia.ca, said the public may not know the bill is still on the table.

“I don’t think they’re aware that behind the scenes, the government is still pushing this forward, and that really they haven’t made any commitment to make any substantive changes,” Anderson told the Straight by phone.

The group launched a new video campaign today (May 24), which outlines the organization’s concerns with the bill.

“Our main concern is that it will provide a range of authorities with access to our personal information at any time without a warrant, and it looks like if nothing else happens, if people don’t reach out to their MPs, then that probably will come through,” said Anderson.

The bill titled the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act was introduced by Toews in February 2012.

The legislation will give police and intelligence authorities the power under certain circumstances to order a telecommunications company to provide a customer's name, address, telephone number, Internet Protocol address, and email address without a warrant.

An online petition against Bill C-30 launched by OpenMedia.ca has now gathered over 135,000 signatures.

“This is one of those issues that crosses the party lines and it really hits home for really all Canadians, and it’s just a matter of people being aware,” said Anderson.


The video released by OpenMedia.ca as part of the group's campaign against a controversial online surveillance bill.

Comments (4) Add New Comment
no sense of irony
May 24, 2012 at 5:17 pm
It should be named "Opposition to eating babies act"
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struct
May 24, 2012 at 6:38 pm
They say they want to get tough on crime? the only thing this bill is tough on is taking away our civil rights. They wanna help children then lock up the perverts LONGER and put them on PUBLIC registered sex offenders list, so all parents can be aware of who and where these predators are at all times. Child predators and alike should lose their privacy, not law abiding citizens!
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No privacy now
May 27, 2012 at 5:53 pm
Under the current rules anyone working for my internet provider can get access to everything I do online. That doesn't seem right. The new law gives police limitted access but restricts who at Shaw can be snooping into what I do. I think that means more privacy for me.
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Perdido
Jun 5, 2012 at 10:40 am
China’s Internet censorship shows us quite clearly how power can be abused if we let our civil rights be taken from us. Here in Canada, we have enough threats to privacy and freedom of expression, let’s not add government internet fishing expeditions to it.
Moreover, while the government may not be especially interested in our scintillating e-mail correspondence, they may be interested in who we associate with. We are on a slippery slope if we agree to this; after all, who will be watching and monitoring the government?
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