Scrap Bill C-2: Defend democratic rights

The Communist Party of Canada issues this urgent warning against the Liberal government’s introduction of Bill C-2, deceitfully named the “Strong Borders Act.” This legislation escalates state surveillance, entrenches xenophobic scapegoating, and deepens Canada’s subordination to the United States government, continuing the authoritarian legacy of Harper’s Bill C-51. Far from protecting Canadians, Bill C-2 criminalizes dissent, eviscerates privacy rights, and abandons refugees to violence, serving monopoly capitalism’s drive toward repression and war.

Bill C-2 unleashes mass warrantless surveillance, granting police and CSIS unchecked access to Canadians’ private communications, online activities, and personal data based on flimsy “reasonable suspicion.” This shreds decades of privacy rulings in the courts and targets workers, migrants, Indigenous peoples, and activists for profiling. Communications corporations will be forced to spy on users under secret ministerial orders, while Canada Post gains powers to open mail without judicial oversight. These measures deliberately surrender Canadian sovereignty, facilitating U.S. and foreign agencies’ access to sensitive data, aligning with Trump’s racist anti-immigrant agenda and violating Charter rights.

The Bill’s cruelty toward refugees exposes its reactionary core. It imposes a retroactive one-year deadline on asylum claims, stripping protection from those fleeing wars or repression that erupt after their arrival, a gross violation of international law. The Immigration Minister gains dictatorial powers to cancel residency applications and deport entire groups without due process. Simultaneously, Bill C-2 eliminates the exception in the “Safe Third Country Agreement” that allowed refugees crossing from the U.S. between ports of entry to seek asylum after 14 days. This traps vulnerable people in Trump’s racist deportation machine, despite the U.S. being demonstrably unsafe for refugees.

The wars refugees flee, from Haiti to Afghanistan, are often fueled by U.S., NATO and Canadian imperialism. Canada’s support for U.S. aggression, coups, and resource plunder has displaced millions. Now, as climate catastrophe and war accelerate, Bill C-2 slams the door on those seeking safety.

This assault coincides with capitalism’s crisis. Hundreds of thousands of temporary migrants, deliberately imported to address a tight labour market during the pandemic, now face discardment as unemployment rises. Instead of addressing the real causes of inflation and austerity, price gouging by monopolies, gutted rent controls, and corporate tax cuts, the Liberals have decided to scapegoat migrants.

Undocumented workers fighting wage theft or exploitation will face deportation when employers weaponize new information-sharing powers between border agencies and all levels of government. This collusion is an attack on labour organizing and shields exploitative bosses. An attack on labour rights for any group of workers, lowers wages and attacks working conditions and labour rights for all workers.

Police and CSIS cannot be trusted with these powers. The McDonald Commission exposed RCMP crimes: arson, illegal detention, and sabotage of democratic movements. Today, CSIS fabricates “foreign interference” scandals targeting Chinese Canadians while ignoring blatant U.S. meddling in Canadian affairs. These agencies are not neutral: they serve ruling-class interests, break laws with impunity, and criminalize dissent.

From the War Measures Act and the October Crisis to G20 mass arrests and CSIS black operations, “national security” has always masked attacks on democratic movements. Bill C-2 continues this tradition. It cannot be amended; it must be withdrawn entirely. In addition, we demand:

• The abolition of CSIS, the CSE and the RCMP;
• Full status for all migrants, an end to deportations, and withdrawal from the Safe Third Country Agreement;
• Protection for workers asserting labour rights, regardless of immigration status.

Bill C-2 proves the ruling class unites behind repression as capitalism’s crises deepen. The Liberals, despite promises to reject Conservative policies, are now accelerating austerity, militarism, and expanding police powers. The expansion of surveillance and border militarization serves Canada’s monopoly corporations, whose short term profits depend on deeper U.S. integration, sacrificing sovereignty and working-class interests.

The Communist Party calls upon the labour movement, Indigenous nations, migrant justice groups, civil liberties defenders, women’s organizations, students, and all democratic forces to build a united front against Bill C-2. Only mass resistance can defeat this police-state legislation.

Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada