The government is not listening.
We need to speak louder
Dear Tracy,
Thank you for signing Amnesty International's petition on the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act, Bill C-51.
Your voice has helped raise awareness across Canada that the serious shortcomings of this bill put our human rights at risk.
Growing public concern about this proposed bill has helped broaden the debate, and more than 70 protests were organized across Canada for a day of action on March 14, sending a message that the government is being forced to hear.
Yet following Amnesty International's appearance before the Standing Committee, I was struck by what the government completely ignored during our session -- concerns that get to the heart of the issue:
Thank you for signing Amnesty International's petition on the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act, Bill C-51.
Your voice has helped raise awareness across Canada that the serious shortcomings of this bill put our human rights at risk.
Growing public concern about this proposed bill has helped broaden the debate, and more than 70 protests were organized across Canada for a day of action on March 14, sending a message that the government is being forced to hear.
Yet following Amnesty International's appearance before the Standing Committee, I was struck by what the government completely ignored during our session -- concerns that get to the heart of the issue:
- new CSIS powers violate international human rights law, and would draw judges into human rights violations,
- exempting only "lawful" demonstrations from new definitions of threats to the security of Canada is an assault on meaningful protests by Indigenous peoples, environmental groups, the labour movement and others, and
- the new criminal offence of promoting terrorism “in general” will violate and chill free expression in ways we will likely never be able to measure.
I invite you to read our longer list of concerns by reading my reflections following the Standing Committee meeting or by reading Amnesty's Brief.
But more than anything, I want to thank you for speaking out, as I believe we all need to at this critical time.
- exempting only "lawful" demonstrations from new definitions of threats to the security of Canada is an assault on meaningful protests by Indigenous peoples, environmental groups, the labour movement and others, and
- the new criminal offence of promoting terrorism “in general” will violate and chill free expression in ways we will likely never be able to measure.
I invite you to read our longer list of concerns by reading my reflections following the Standing Committee meeting or by reading Amnesty's Brief.
But more than anything, I want to thank you for speaking out, as I believe we all need to at this critical time.
As
we monitor another week of meetings, I invite you to join us in raising
awareness of this vital moment in human rights protection by sharing
our action, using our social media buttons, or by forwarding our
petition.
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www.amnesty.ca/billC51
Thank you so much for signing and sharing our petition!
Sincerely,
Alex Neve,
Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada
Alex Neve,
Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada
P.S.As questions of human rights and security become more pressing, we're doing our best to keep human rights supporters like you informed about the key issues. I invite you to visit the Surveillance, Security and Human Rights page on our website to learn more. We need Canadians like you to speak up!
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