Canada's new anti-terrorism legislation, passed in the wake of 9/11, is currently undergoing review by committees in both the Senate and the House of Commons. CCLA General Counsel A. Alan Borovoy and Public Safety Director Alexi Wood have testified before both committees. According to Borovoy and Wood, the current definition of terrorism could capture everything from rebellions against a tyrannical foreign dictatorship to the blockade of highways in Canada by protesting truckers, farmers, or Aboriginal activists. The CCLA witnesses urged a substantial narrowing of what the law covers.
The civil liberties delegation also recommended the use of special advocates when permanent residents or foreign nationals are arrested on security certificates, more ministerial involvement and oversight of national security operations, and a narrowing of the prohibition on disclosing government information potentially related to national security.
"We share the goal of fighting terrorism," Borovoy and Wood told the committees, "[but] we question the means by which the government has chosen to do so." In a number of important respects, they said, Canada's anti-terror measures can needlessly undermine the country's civil liberties and fundamental freedoms.