Civil Liberties and Privacy News

By Joe Florito

A pounding at the door the other morning; my windows rattled. I was upstairs at work. I don't always leave my desk to hear the good news about Jehovah.

The pounder was insistent. I went down, if only for the sake of the windows.

Oh, jeeze, the cops.

Officers Firth and Kozar in attendance. "What's up, boys?" My preference was to talk to them through the plate glass door. They wanted to come inside.

Not a chance.

In the wake of the terrorism attempt Friday on a Northwest Airlines flight, federal officials on Saturday imposed new restrictions on travelers that could lengthen lines at airports and limit the ability of international passengers to move about an airplane.

The government was vague about the steps it was taking, saying that it wanted the security experience to be “unpredictable” and that passengers would not find the same measures at every airport — a prospect that may upset airlines and travelers alike.

In advance of the 2010 Winter Olympics, critics of the Games have been subjected to surveillance, harassment, along with other intimidation tactics. Voicing opposition to the Olympics appears to be all that is needed for one to be labeled as a security threat. There are concerns over the negative impacts associated with holding the Games, as well as concerted efforts to stifle anti-Olympic expression. As the Coca-Cola/RBC corporate torch relay nears its final destination, the opening ceremonies in Vancouver on February 12, 2010, more protests are expected. The Olympics are providing the perfect cover for many police state measures with ramifications that could leave a lasting legacy.

Vancouver police have a new crowd control device capable of emitting painfully loud blasts of sound, just in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics, CBC News has learned.

The medium-range acoustic device (MRAD) can use sound as a weapon, emitting piercing sounds at frequency levels that cross the human threshold of pain and are potentially damaging to hearing, say audio experts.

Harry Bloy from the BC Liberal party has his own definition on what it means to be a proud Canadian.  Bloy expressed his pride at being Canadian “particularly” as the region gets ready to host the Games with the start of the torch relay. He took the opportunity to denounce those Canadians who choose to exercise their rights under section 2(b) of the Charter, stating  in the Legislature Monday that “people who protest the Winter Olympics are nothing more than “terrorists” with “limited intellect”.

UPDATE:

Many will recall the intense opposition voiced against Bill C-51 which proposed sweeping changes to the Food and Drugs Act. There was also much contention surrounding Bill C-52, the Consumer Products Safety Act. Both Bills would have expanded the powers of Health Canada in areas of seizure and detention. After the last federal election in October 2008, the Harper government essentially reintroduced Bill C-52 as Bill C-6.

The CBC reports that, “A proposed BC law would allow municipal officials (in Whistler, Vancouver and Richmond) to enter homes (with just 24 hours notice) to seize unauthorized and possibly anti-Olympic signs on short notice (says) the BC Civil Liberties Association.”

Bill 13, the Miscellaneous Statues Amendment Act, introduced on October 8 to amend the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act, means so-called ‘violators’ could be fined up to $10,000 a day and jailed up to six months.

The law would allow these three host municipalities to remove unauthorized signs during the period of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, February 1 to March 31.

Since fatuously declaring his to be a "change" administration, President Barack Obama has quickly donned the blood-spattered mantle of state secrecy and executive privilege worn by the Bush regime.

The BC Rail Scandal gives a hawk's eye view of the rot invading our institutions intended to preserve the peace, guarantee the safety of persons, and assure consistent rule of law.  The case against three cabinet aides - Basi, Virk, and Basi - involved in the BC Rail Scandal focuses light on some of the breaches in the system intended to wall out criminal chaos and anarchy.

“There is no question I antagonized a lot of people by the way I went about my job, in terms of how aggressively I pursued the issues I was fighting for. I ticked a lot of people off, not the least the RCMP. ... It turns out that you can only antagonize so many powerful players without there being all sorts of pushback.”

Mr. Radwanski said the Ontario Court of Justice was the “first fair tribunal” to look into his case, after the Auditor-General and a parliamentary committee started criticizing his tenure in 2003.

Higher courts across Canada are under continuing criticism as ineffectual and elitist.  Even top judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, Beverley McLachlin, has expressed concern.  The letter - which follows - to the Honourable Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett of B.C. Surpreme Court, concerning the court and the BC Rail Scandal - gives some insight into continuing problems.

    * Naomi Wolf
    * The Guardian, Tuesday 24 April 2007

Last autumn, there was a military coup in Thailand. The leaders of the coup took a number of steps, rather systematically, as if they had a shopping list. In a sense, they did. Within a matter of days, democracy had been closed down: the coup leaders declared martial law, sent armed soldiers into residential areas, took over radio and TV stations, issued restrictions on the press, tightened some limits on travel, and took certain activists into custody.

They were not figuring these things out as they went along. If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

This article raises criticism of the recent Ontario government decision to require enhanced drivers licenses  in 2009 that will contain an RFID microchip, which will greatly erode our civil liberties and privacy in Ontario.

Monday November 03, 2008
Earlier this year, many Canadians were taken aback by reports of a secret trade agreement that conjured up images of iPod-searching border guards and tough new penalties for every day activities.  The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, currently being negotiated by Canada, the United States, Japan, the European Union, and a handful other countries, generated sufficient public concern such that then-Industry Minister Jim Prentice specifically denied any links between the treaty and proposed new legislation.

While the ACTA debate has largely disappeared from the public radar screen, the negotiations continue. Over the summer, I reported about attempts to establish a private consultation committee composed of industry groups that excluded public interest organizations.  The status of the consultation committee remains unknown, but my latest technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) reports on newly obtained documents [13 MB] under the Access to Information Act that provide additional insights into the secretive nature of the negotiations as well as the results of a limited public consultation conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs in the spring.