Liberals Join 8 out of 10 Canadians in Standing Against Government’s Warrantless Online Spying Bills

OpenMedia.ca commends LPC House Leader Garneau for standing up for Canadians’ privacy rights

November 8, 2011 – The movement against online spying took one giant leap today when Marc Garneau, the Liberal Party of Canada’s House Leader, released the party’s position on the pending online spying (“Lawful Access”) bills. The Liberals’ statement is in line with concerns expressed by OpenMedia.ca, the Stop Online Spying Coalition, Canada’s Privacy Commissioners, and the 75,000+ Canadians who have signed the petition at http://StopSpying.ca.

The Liberals’ statement raises concerns about the warrantless nature of the proposed legislation. Under the online spying bills, authorities would have unprecedented access to Canadians’ personal information, without judicial oversight.

The letter reads:

"the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) is against granting police access to personal information (subscriber or otherwise) without a warrant. The intent to include warrantless access to subscriber data was affirmed by the Honourable Mr. Toews on the floor of the House at the introduction of C-10."

"Almost every party except the Conservatives has recognized what a slippery slope the online spying bills are," says Steve Anderson, Executive Director of OpenMedia.ca. "With every major political party and 8 in 10 Canadians against these measures, it’s past time the government put some reasonable privacy safeguards in place."

The Liberal Party, New Democratic Party, Green Party, and privacy commissioners from every province and territory have spoken out against the government’s proposed online spying legislation.

Liberal Party Statement
English: https://openmedia.ca/sites/openmedia.ca/files/SOS_LPCStatement_111104.pdf
En français: https://openmedia.ca/sites/openmedia.ca/files/SOS_LPCStatement-FR_111104...

About OpenMedia.ca

OpenMedia.ca is a non-profit organization that safeguards the open and affordable Internet. The group works towards informed & participatory digital policy.

About the Stop Online Spying Coalition

The Stop Online Spying campaign is supported by a group of public interest organizations, civil liberties groups, businesses, and concerned academics that have come together to encourage the government to reconsider "Lawful Access" legislation. The group points out that this type of legislation enables warrantless surveillance that is invasive, excessive and costly. Over 75,000 Canadians have signed the Stop Online Spying petition at http://stopspying.ca

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Contact

Lindsey Pinto
Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca
778-238-7710
lindsey@openmedia.ca

More Information

The Stop Online Spying Campaign
http://StopSpying.ca
http://openmedia.ca/educate
http://openmedia.ca/mp
http://openmedia.ca/screening

Survey indicates vast majority of Canadians oppose warrantless online spying
http://www.openmedia.ca/blog/survey-indicates-vast-majority-canadians-op...

Techvibes: OpenMedia's petition wins battle against online spying but the war is far from over
http://www.techvibes.com/blog/openmedias-petition-wins-battle-against-on...

Globe and Mail: Conservative majority would hustle crime bills into law all at once
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-majority-would...

Joint letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from academics and public interest organizations
http://openmedia.ca/letter-prime-minister-stephen-harper-response-lawful...

NDP MPs Angus & Sandhu write to Toews: Online spying bills are "disturbing"
http://openmedia.ca/blog/ndp-mps-angus-sandhu-write-toews-online-spying-...

Letter to Public Safety Canada from Canada's Privacy Commissioners and Ombudspersons on the current 'Lawful Access' proposals
http://www.priv.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2011/let_110309_e.cfm

National Post: Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian: Privacy invasion shouldn’t be ‘lawful’
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/31/privacy-commissioner-ann-...

More links: http://openmedia.ca/stopspying/resources#links