Canada's lawful access bill faces privacy pushback as government fast-tracks passage

Canada's public safety minister is pushing Parliament to fast-track the government's controversial lawful access bill, drawing criticism for the language used to justify the move.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree urged parliamentarians Tuesday to accelerate passage of Bill C-22, accusing Conservatives of employing "stalling tactics" during committee debate. The Liberal government has signaled it is prepared to force the committee to conclude clause-by-clause review and move to a final reading in the full House of Commons without considering dozens of remaining amendments.

"It's time to choose," Anandasangaree told reporters in Ottawa. "It's a time to choose between victims of crime who are demanding that we, as parliamentarians, act to protect them. Law enforcement needs modern tools to fight modern criminals. Those tools are in Bill C-22."

The language echoed that of former Conservative Public Safety Minister Vic Toews in 2012, when the Harper government pushed its own lawful access bill. Toews said critics "can either stand with us or with the child pornographers"—a statement the Liberals heavily criticized at the time.

Michael Geist, law professor and Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, told Global News it was "incredible" to hear the Liberals adopt Toews' framing after condemning it. "It is astonishing to hear the government, having heard what they've heard over the last number of weeks, basically cut off all debate and say they're marching ahead with what they know to be deeply flawed legislation," Geist said.

The bill would give police and national security agencies expanded powers to seek subscriber information and other data from telecommunications providers with a judicial warrant if they have reason to suspect involvement in a crime. A contentious section would require "core" providers to retain all users' metadata for up to a year and create capacity for investigators to access their systems, provided doing so would not create a "systemic vulnerability."

Several companies have warned that such orders as currently defined would force them to weaken encryption and risk data breaches, prompting warnings they may withdraw services from Canada. Anandasangaree has promised to put forward amendments protecting encryption and more clearly defining "systemic vulnerability." He has also agreed to shorten the maximum metadata retention period from a year to six months.

"This is such an evisceration of both the privacy and security of Canadians," Geist said, "putting not only Canadians at risk, but frankly, putting many of our companies at risk in terms of their willingness to continue to service the Canadian market."