Friday, May 15, 2015

Bill C-51: to Pass or Not to Pass? C-51条例:通过还是反对?

 

In February 2015 an RCMP report surfaced that described in breathless terms the “growing, highly organized and well-financed anti-Canada petroleum movement” that consists of “peaceful activists, militants and violent extremists.” It was reported that after a third reading the anti-terrorist Bill C-51 has already been passed by the House of Commons.

When the Chretien Liberals introduced the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act after 9-11, the government moved cautiously and invited wide public input. That resulted in relatively solid legislation that avoided mistakes the U.S. and Britain both made with their more knee-jerk responses to terrorism.

“Back in the 1960s, it was understood by all three major parties (Liberals, Progressive Conservatives and NDP) that civil society organizations were an important function of democracy,” says Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives national director Bruce Campbell.

However, in addition to traditional terrorist acts, Bill C-51 targets anything that interferes with Canada’s territorial integrity, critical infrastructure, and economic and financial stability. As well, simply promoting a “terrorist” cause is deemed criminal with no evidence of violent intent required to detain someone.

“The bill is written way too loose,” says Sierra Club director John Bennet. “There’s only one explanation, and it has to be that they intend to go after more than terrorists. They want to redefine what a terrorist is so that they can define their enemies as terrorists.”

While it was made illegal to detain someone for 24 hours without a charge in Trudeau's time, it is now. However, the government should be prudent to entrust the power to detain someone for 7 days without a charge as it is against the Canadian Bill of Rights, nor is it beneficial to the freedom of speech and healthy governance, let alone the environmental protection good for Canada.

(Note: Most of the materials were an excerpt of the article,   Making Enemies by Gregory Beatty, Prairie Dog, Page 7, March 5-18, 2015)

2015年2月皇家骑警报告浮出水面,里面有气喘吁吁描述由“和平活动家,武装分子和暴力极端分子”(包括绿色和平组织、加拿大潮汐和加拿大塞拉俱乐部)组织的“越来越大,高度有组织和资助的抗加拿大石油运动”。针对恐怖主义的C-51条例据悉已经在第三次辩论后在众议院获得通过。

当克雷蒂安等自由党人在911事件后引入了加拿大反恐怖主义法,政府小心翼翼地行动,并邀请公众广泛提出意见。这导致政府避免了美英为应付恐怖主义作出下意识反应而产生的失误,有关立法比较坚实可靠。

加拿大另类政策中心国家主管布鲁斯·坎贝尔说:“早在上世纪60年代,三个主要政党(自由党,保守党和新民主党)一张认为,民间社会组织是民主的一个重要功能。”然而,除了传统的恐怖行为,C-51条例针对任何干扰加拿大领土完整,重要基础设施,以及经济和金融稳定的行为。同时,简单地倡导“恐怖”事业也被认为是犯罪,即使没有证据证明暴力倾向,仍然可以扣留人质。

“该法案的陈述方式过于宽泛,”塞拉俱乐部主任约翰·贝内特说。 “只有一个解释,那就是他们打算打击的人不仅仅是恐怖分子。他们要重新定义恐怖主义分子是谁,以便他们能够将他们的敌人定义为恐怖分子。”

虽然在特鲁多时代不定罪就居留24小时是非法的,现在却是合法的。然而,政府在授权不定罪就居留某人长达七天时必须小心,因为它违背加拿大人权法案,也不利于言论自由与健康的政府治理,更不用说对加拿大有利的环境保护。

(注:大部分内容出自格里高利. 比蒂在《草原之狗》 2015年3月5-18日期刊第7页的文章“与你结仇”)