Secret spy hearings were one wild ride
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- Published on Saturday, 15 August 2015 06:15
- Written by editor
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An unprecedented week
Dear PAOV,
It's been a wild week at the BC Civil Liberties Association. We've been fighting and winning human rights and civil liberties victories in this country for more than 50 years, but we've rarely seen a week like this one.
On Wednesday, secret hearings held by SIRC, the body responsible for overseeing Canada's spies, began here in Vancouver. BCCLA Executive Director Josh Paterson went into a closed federal courtroom to testify in our case that CSIS violated their own legislation when they spied on law-abiding civilians. He came out of the courtroom and suddenly he's not allowed to talk. He can't tell us what happened inside.
As each of our witnesses emerged from the hearings, the same thing happened to them.
Inside the black box of national security
That's the danger of giving security and intelligence agencies more power. When people or organizations challenge their actions, we have to do it with the deck stacked against us.
Now, with the passing of Bill C-51, Canada’s spy and security agencies have been given vastly expanded powers. This week's hearings put on display just how hard it is to fight abuses within the national security framework. It's just one more reason we continue to call for the immediate end of the changes introduced by Bill C-51.
Doubling down on speaking up
Luckily, the BCCLA and our partners in this work are not folks to be intimidated or silenced. We're doubling down on speaking up.
Caitlyn Vernon, Campaigns Director for the Sierra Club of BC issued this cheeky statement after her appearance at the hearings; Kai Nagata of the Dogwood Initiative wrote this 'Hello CSIS' blog post; and we here at the BCCLA have prepared this short video showing what our witnesses had to say before the hearings.
Check it out by clicking here or on the image.
Thank you for fighting back
Thousands of people have now signed the pledge declaring their opposition to illegal spying on law abiding Canadians. These folks share our belief that we can change the systems we live under.
But we can't fight back without you. The BCCLA is unaffiliated with any other group or organization. Our funding comes from people across Canada who support the fight for rights and liberties. Taking on CSIS has cost us a lot, and will cost us more in the future.
If you can, please make a donation today to help us continue this important work.
Thanks for chipping in and speaking up.
Sincerely,
Charlotte Kingston, Director of Community Engagement,
and the entire BC Civil Liberties team
