Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act
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| Anti-terrorism Act | |
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| An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Official Secrets Act, the Canada Evidence Act, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act and other Acts, and to enact measures respecting the registration of charities, in order to combat terrorism | |
| Citation | Anti-terrorism Act |
| Enacted by | Parliament of Canada |
| Date assented to | December 18, 2001 |
The Canadian Anti-terrorism Act was passed by the Liberal government of Canada in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. It received Royal Assent on December 18, 2001, as Bill C-36. The "omnibus" bill extended the powers of government and institutions within the Canadian security establishment to respond to the threat of terrorism. The expanded powers were highly controversial due to widely perceived incompatibility with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,[1] in particular for the Act's provisions allowing for 'secret' trials, preemptive detention and expansive security and surveillance powers.[2]
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[edit] Bill C-36
This bill provides similar measures to that of the USA PATRIOT Act passed by the United States in the same timeframe.
The bill's passage has been compared to the government's activation of the War Measures Act in response to terrorist activity by the FLQ.
[edit] Opposition
It was opposed by Marjory LeBreton, David Paciocco, Andrew Telegdi and others.[3] Ziyad Mia, of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Toronto, "questioned whether the definition of terrorist activity would apply to a group that resisted, by acts of violence, the regimes of Saddam Hussein or Robert Mugabe," and pointed out that it criminalized the French Resistance and Nelson Mandela.[4]
[edit] Prosecutions
In January 2010, Zakaria Amara, from Mississauga, a suspect in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, was sentenced to imprisonment for life. This sentence was the stiffest given so far under the Anti-terrorism Act. Saad Gaya from Oakville, a fellow suspect in the same case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.[5]
[edit] Expiration
Some of the bill's provisions expired on March 1, 2007. The Conservative government urged that these be renewed, while all three opposition parties were opposed. Specifically, the provisions had to do with preventative arrest and investigative hearings.
On February 27, 2007, the House of Commons voted 159-124 against renewing the provisions, which later led to their expiry.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ See e.g. Colleen Bell, "Subject to Exception: Security Certificates, National Security and Canada's Role in the 'War on Terror'" 21(1) Canadian Journal of Law and Society 63-83 at 73; Sherene Razack, Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims from Western Law and Politics (Toronto, Buffalo, & London: University of Toronto Press, 2008) at 161; and Kent Roach, "Defining Terrorism: The Need for a Restrained Definition" in The Human Rights of Anti-Terrorism, Nicole LaViolette & Craig Forcese, eds. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2008) 97-127 at 97-98 and 127.
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/cdnsecurity/
- ^ So-called anti-terrorism act
- ^ Diab, Robert. "Guantanamo North", 2008
- ^ "Life term for terror ringleader - Man planned to detonate three bombs at 9 a.m., when Toronto's downtown core would be bustling"
