Public Safety ministry tight lipped about possible re-introduction of C-74

A spokesperson for Stockwell Day, the minister responsible for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC), says the government has yet to make a decision about re-introducing Bill C-74 – legislation that would modernize the country’s wiretapping laws. However, sources have told Network Letter that the federal government will re-introduce the bill in the House of Commons – it’s just a question of when (NL, May 25/06). Minister Day’s office asserts that no decision has been made on C-74. "We don’t know yet what we will do with this bill," says Mélisa Leclerc, director of communications for the minister. "It was something that we just discussed at some point whether we would re-introduce it, but no decision has been made." This statement runs counter to what some in the industry are saying: the bill will be re-introduced either before Parliament breaks for the summer, or in the fall after members of Parliament return from the traditional three-month hiatus. Discussions between the key industry players and the Minister’s office have taken place, but only at a preliminary level. Bernard Courtois, president and CEO of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), told Network Letter last month that the government does appear to be listening to the concerns of the industry. But, he added, it’s difficult to tell what changes, if any, will be made to the bill. "We certainly have the impression that the new government and Minister Day will want to look into this before blindly going ahead with the bill, but we haven’t had discussions that would lead us to know exactly which kinds of changes they’re going to be making," he stated last month. Courtois said the technology industry’s message to government officials has been consistent: the bill needs to be fixed. "You don’t want intercepting communications that the industry, whose communications you’re trying to work with, thinks doesn’t work and is not right," he told NL. "And I don’t think this government will want to just pick up where the former government was and if there was a mistake just repeat it." The ITAC chief executive suggests that there isn’t a rush to get C-74 back into the Commons for debate. He adds the only problem with the current system is it’s not standardized. "The point of this bill is just to standardize processes to make every player in the industry compliant," Courtois said. "I think the government would be more interested in getting it right than trying to slam something through." Despite assertions to the contrary, PSEPC does appear to be telegraphing the re-introduction of the lawful access bill. It has created the Cyber Security Task Force Secretariat, which has already started staffing up. Jane Billings has been tapped to fill the role of assistant deputy minister while Allan MacGillivray, formerly involved with the Telecommuni-cations Policy Review Panel, is a senior policy analyst. The raison d’être of the task force will likely be much greater than just looking into the lawful access issue, but lawful intercept legislation could be one of the cornerstones of the Secretariat under the governing Conservative Party of Canada. One of the conservatives’ priorities was a tougher stance on crime and this would help, especially in an environment that is shaped to no small degree by post-9/11 thinking.

Public Safety ministry tight lipped about possible re-introduction of C-74

News | June 8, 2006

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