The
Anti-terrorism Act and
Faith Communities
Talk
by Hon. David Kilgour
Member
of Parliament for Edmonton Southeast
and
Secretary
of State (Asia Pacific)
The
Church of the Redeemer, 162
Bloor St. W.
Toronto,
ON
February
2, 2002
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
To
the astonishment of many,
the author Paul Marshall pointed
out several years ago that
there are probably more Christians
being martyred for their faith
across the world currently
that at any point since AD
33. The
estimate of those killed in
the 20th century
alone is more than 35 million
– about 163,000 per year at
current levels. Believers
of many other faiths, of course,
are also being attacked or
worse in very large numbers
as well in various lands,
so all religions have a common
interest in reducing hate
crimes.
It
is central to all monotheistic
faiths that life is sacred
and that people should not
be persecuted for their religious
convictions. Our own Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, among
other such
legislation across
the democratic world, makes
this point explicitly.
So
what are Canada’s faith communities
to make of the Anti-terrorism
Act? There will perhaps be
as many viewpoints here as
there are persons present
this morning. Before the final
amendments to C-36, I understand
concerns were voiced
about features of the measure
by the Islamic Congress of
Canada, the Canadian Arab
Federation, the Conference
of Canadian Catholic Bishops,
and some First Nations’ groups.
The Canadian Jewish Congress
was reportedly supportive.
Let
me therefore set out
briefly some of the
major features of the legislation
as it was finally passed by
the House and Senate.
Major
Features
The legislation seeks
to identify, prosecute, convict
and punish terrorists more
effectively
specifically by:
making
it an offense knowingly to
participate in, facilitate,
or contribute to the activities
of a terrorist group,
cutting
off financial support for
terrorists by making it a
crime knowingly to
collect or give funds to carry
out terrorism.
“Terrorist
activity” is defined to mean
a violation of the provisions
of the various UN conventions
on terrorism, or an act done
in whole or part for a political,
religious or ideological purpose,
and with the intention of
intimidating the public with
regard to its security, or
compelling someone to do or
refrain from doing an act,
and is also one that intentionally
causes death or serious bodily
harm.
An
interpretive clause indicates
that an expression of political,
religious or ideological beliefs
alone is not a “terrorist
activity” unless it is intended
to intimidate the public or
compel a government and intentionally
causes
death or serious harm
to people.
The
definition s.83.01 (1.1) intends
to make it clear that disrupting
an essential service during
a strike or protest is not
a terrorist activity unless
it is intended to cause serious
harm or death.
Stronger
Investigative Tools
The
range of new and stronger
investigative tools include
For
wiretaps, judges can grant
authorizations for longer
periods and without being
convinced that it is a last
resort.
With
the consent of the Attorney
General, suspected terrorists
can be arrested “preventatively”
if a peace officer can first
obtain a warrant; if urgent
circumstances exist, the suspected
terrorist can be arrested
without a warrant as long
as the suspect is brought
before a judge within 24 hours
of the arrest.
Individuals
with information relevant
to the ongoing investigation
of a terrorist crime can be
required to appear before
a judge to provide that information,
as long as the consent of
the AG has been obtained.
For such witnesses,
their information cannot be
used against them in any criminal
proceeding.
Hate
Crimes and Propaganda
Our
national values of respect,
dignity, equality, diversity
and fairness now require re-enforcement.
Accordingly, the act:
Allows
the court to order the deletion
of hate propaganda from Internet
sites, although one will have
the opportunity to convince
a court that it is not hate
propaganda,
a
new offence of mischief motivated
by bias, prejudice or hate
based on religion, race, colour
or national or ethnic origin
is created.
Safeguards
The
Anti-terrorism Act safeguards
include:
all
provincial and federal ministers
responsible for policing must
report yearly on the use of
preventative detention and
investigative hearings,
there
will be a parliamentary review
of the legislation in 3 years,
the
preventative detention and
investigative hearing powers
will expire after 5 years
unless both the House and
the Senate extend either or
both for up to five more years,
the
new provisions are clearly
defined to be aimed at terrorists
and not at any community group
or faith. Legitimate political
activities and protests are
protected through the precise
definitions of terrorist activity.
the
process for adding a group
to the list of terrorist organizations
has a number of protections,
including provisions for removal,
judicial review and safeguards
to address cases of mistaken
identity.
Conclusion
The respected law professor,
Anne Bayefsky, told the Senate
committee considering this
legislation:
