In the wake of the violent events in Ottawa and Quebec last month, the Communist Party of Canada warned against attempts to use such incidents to impose new restriction on civil liberties and democratic freedoms. The Harper government is clearly adopting such a strategy, in an effort to intimidate Canadians against expressing criticism of Conservative policies, by expanding the frightening scale of mass surveillance of the activities and communications of the people of this country. We join with many others to warn that this trend towards police state tactics will have dangerous consequences for democracy and freedom.
Instead of adopting an “evidence based approach” to dealing with violent crime, the Harper government is engaged in a blatant attempt to frighten Canadians into silence. The Conservatives strategy is to use various hot-button issues to head off serious debates, such as their claim that terrorist threats pose a mortal danger to the entire country, or that “cyber-bullying” can only be stopped by giving police sweeping new powers to monitor virtually all online communications.
As civil rights groups point out, the drive to reach “perfect” security and safety by giving governments and police the unchecked ability to spy upon and even incarcerate people for their thoughts and beliefs is the real danger to a democratic society.
The latest threat is the recently tabled Bill C 44, “The Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act”, which gives CSIS new powers to expand its international espionage activities beyond the borders of Canada. Even before this legislation, the CSEC (Communications Security Establishment Canada) was monitoring Canadians’ telecommunications data, despite express legal prohibitions against such conduct. Both CSIS and the RCMP have a long record of espionage against trade unions, Aboriginal movements, environmentalists, Communists and other radical forces, and many others who express criticisms of government policies. Given the near complete absence of genuine oversight or accountability, Canadians have little idea of the extent or reasons for this espionage. Now, among other features, Bill C-44 would cut judicial oversight out of the admission of information from confidential informants at trial, automatically preserving the anonymity of those informants. In other words, Canadians are losing the right to confront their accusers in court.
As if Bill C-44 was not frightening enough, Bill C 13 (the “Cyberbullying Bill”) gives law enforcement agencies even wider surveillance powers, and allows Internet Service Providers to voluntarily turn over huge volumes of information about individuals to the government.
This legislation is not based on any serious threat. Only a handful of Canadians have ever been the victims of terrorist actions or so-called “lone wolf” attacks. A far larger problem is the breakdown of social programs and services, caused by neoliberal austerity cutbacks imposed by federal and provincial governments. Instead of turning Canada into a police state, governments should be funding community based prevention programs, better mental health support, and anti-racism and pro-diversity campaigns to protect disadvantaged groups and racialised communities. As the recent attacks showed, monitoring text messages and Facebook postings did not prevent violent actions; but unlimited surveillance of communications will fundamentally weaken civil rights and democracy.
Bills C-13 and C-44 must be viewed within the larger context of the drive by corporations and right-wing governments to impose austerity policies on Canada. These policies are being met with increasing public awareness and opposition, and governments are responding with even more draconian tactics.
Look at some examples of this anti-democratic trend: the government’s voter suppression tactics in federal elections; the massive police operation to monitor every protest demonstration across Canada; sweeping efforts to ban street protests by youth in Quebec; the prohibition against media interviews by federal scientists; the Revenue Canada campaign to prevent non-profits from addressing any issues of public concern; the use of injunctions and “SLAPP” lawsuits by corporations to prevent citizens from challenging their actions; escalating measures to limit the ability of trade unions to campaign around issues on behalf of their members; legislation to allow federal bureaucrats and politicians to arbitrarily remove Canadian citizenship rights.
This list could be expanded with dozens of similar examples of sharpening attacks on our labour and democratic rights. The real aim of the Harper Conservatives is not to protect Canadians from terrorist attacks or cyber-bullying; their strategy is to spread paralyzing fear, leaving governments and security forces free to block the emergence of broad popular movements and coalitions to demand pro-people policies. In other words, the best way to impose neoliberalism is to intimidate Canadians from even discussing how to build a powerful resistance struggle for real change.
The struggle to defend democratic freedoms and civil rights, including the rights to free speech and assembly, to communications privacy, to organize and bargain collectively, and to cast a ballot in elections, is not an abstract question. To block the neoliberal agenda and to unite for real progressive change, working people must be able to act collectively, without fear of constant surveillance and harassment. The fight for democracy is a fight for the right to put the needs of working people ahead of corporate greed.
The Communist Party of Canada once again calls on the labour movment and all its allies – Aboriginal peoples, women, students, seniors, environmentalists, racialized communities, LGBTQ movements, critics of CETA and other “free trade” deals – to unite in resistance against the Harper government’s agenda. Scrap Bills C-13 and C-44! Yes to democracy and human rights, and no to corporate dictatorship and police state tactics! Defeat the Harper Tories, and fight to build a People’s Coalition!
Statement of the CEC-CPC, against Bills C-44 and C-13, Nov. 18, 2014