Lawful access consultation, only fact finding mission: Day’s office

The back-peddling continues at Public Safety Canada Minister Stockwell Day's office. This time, though, Day's director of communications Mélisa Leclerc is left answering questions about the reasons for the closed-door consultation on giving law enforcement agencies access to customer name and address information. She maintains that the consultation isn't about finding ways to give police departments and other law enforcement groups access to this information without first seeking a search warrant. Rather, Leclerc says, its goal is to "improve" the process by which law enforcement obtains this type information on telephone, wireless and Internet customers, while also achieving a "balance" between public safety and access to subscriber data. If the Conservative government is serious about developing improved and balanced processes by which law enforcement gets customer information without a warrant, a starting point would be previous federal government efforts. There is no need to re-invent the wheel on this. Past federal governments already held two consultations on lawful access in hopes of updating the law. Following these discussions, the former Liberal government tabled legislation (C-74) two years ago which contained provisions that would have given law enforcement agencies access to customer information without first requiring a search warrant under certain circumstances. It died on the order table, never making it committee. Six month ago, Liberal MP Marlene Jennings tabled C-416 in the House of Commons, which, according to one telecom industry executive with significant expertise in this area, was a spitting image of C-74. While these two bills may not have been perfect, they demonstrated that the Liberals are willing to work within the system to improve law enforcement agencies' access to this type of personal information. The Conservatives on the other hand have shown reluctance to go the legislative route to implement change. They reformed the telecommunications industry through a little used provision of the Telecommunications Act and despite calls from a blue ribbon panel have yet to introduce new telecommunications legislation that would cement reform in law. More recently, the Conservatives similarly tried to usurp the power of the Canadian Wheat Board regarding its monopoly on barley sales in Western Canada by introducing new regulations. The federal court ruled the government overstepped its authority in allowing independent barley sales. It won't come as a surprise to many in Ottawa that the government is trying to give more power to law enforcement agencies and if that is the case, then the Conservatives should come clean. Besides, the government could do what previous governments have done: conduct an open public consultation and then hold closed door meetings with specific interest groups. The Conservatives would have avoided all the negative press it is now getting if it proceeded "above board".

Lawful access consultation, only fact finding mission: Day’s office

News | September 18, 2007

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Lawful access consultation, only fact finding mission: Day’s office

News | September 18, 2007

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