Government leaves lawful access out of crime bill

The Conservative government did not include lawful access legislation in its omnibus crime bill introduced Tuesday. During the last Parliament, the Conservative government introduced bills C-50, C-51 and C-52, collectively known as lawful access legislation. The bills would force Internet service providers (ISPs) to disclose information such names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Internet protocol addresses and device identification numbers to law enforcement authorities without a court-ordered warrant. The government had said it would include lawful access in its crime bill, which it seeks to pass within the first 100 sitting days of Parliament. But the bill introduced Tuesday, C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act, does not include the lawful access legislation. “While there is every reason to believe lawful access will be introduced some time in the future, excluding them from the crime bill will provide more time for review and committee hearings,” Michael Geist, the Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, wrote on his blog Tuesday. Advocacy group OpenMedia.ca issued a release Tuesday that noted the move came after it ran a petition that now has more than 70,000 signatures. The group also produced a series of YouTube videos to bring attention to the issue, which have been viewed more than 86,000 times in the past few days, the organization said. OpenMedia, the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association are part of a five-group coalition that sought to have the legislation scrutinized separately in the House.

Government leaves lawful access out of crime bill

Brief | September 20, 2011

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