Your readers who are so upset by their interpretation of Bill C-51, the federal government’s new anti-terrorism legislation, would do well to read a thoughtful, balanced assessment of what’s actually in the bill produced by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
The author, a former security advisor to the federal and Ontario governments, provides a detailed analysis of the bill and concludes it is a measured response to a dangerous threat.
“Contrary to some of the criticism leveled against it, C-51 does contain a number of internal ‘checks and balances’ which are intended to prevent the kind of abuse by government that is being raised,” he writes.
He concludes there is a lot of ill-informed hysteria in the criticism of the bill.
None more so, in my opinion, than the ridiculous and irresponsible assertion by our own MP Elizabeth May — quoted by one of your letter writers — that this bill will “turn CSIS into a secret police force.”
Dave Laundy, Brentwood Bay