To the editor:
I’m writing in response to local MP Cathy McLeod’s March 26 Guest Shot, headlined McLeod: confusion about Bill C-51, where she continues to claim her full support for Bill C-51 – the Anti-Terrorism Act.
My question to her is
If C-51 is so great, why have the following people expressed serious concerns or criticisms of it:
Four former Canadian prime ministers; Globe and Mail editors; more than 100 law professors from across Canada; Conrad Black; Francois Lavigne, former CSIS officer; Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien; Canadian Bar Association; all of the provincial Privacy Commissioners; Premier Christy Clark; and Sheldon Clare, head of the National Firearms Assoc. (Canadian gun lobby).
There are others. I don’t understand why Ms. McLeod would ignore the concerns of all these people.
The view of many, including myself, is that C-51 is dangerously vague and broad in scope.
It has the potential to infringe on our privacy and on our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The justification for C-51 is not clear. There are already laws designed to address terrorism.
Support for Bill C-51 was previously said to be 82 per cent. Now that Canadians are finding out the implications, support for the Bill is dropping fast.
Hugh Thomas
100 Mile House
