Canada announces new anti-terror law

The new law still has to be passed in Parliament but Harper’s Conservative government has a majority of the seats so passage is all but ensured.

Under current law it is a crime to make a specific threat. The new law will make it a crime for a person to call for terror attacks on Canada generally or to promote or advocate others to carry out terrorism elsewhere.

“We cannot tolerate this any more than we tolerate people that make jokes about bomb threats at airports,” Harper said. “Anyone engaging in that kind of activity is going to face the full force of the law in the future.”

The penalty will be a maximum of five years in prison. Authorities will also be able to remove terror—related material from any Canadian website.

Under the current law those suspected of being involved in a terror plot can be detained for up to three days. The new law extends that to seven days provided



police get a judge’s permission.

The new law will also allow the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the country’s spy service, to directly approach terror suspects in order to disrupt their plans. CSIS is currently permitted only to collect intelligence and pass the information on to police.

The spy agency will now be able to cancel plane or other travel reservations made by Canadians suspected of being involved in terrorism. The new activities by CSIS will require approval by a judge. Police already have many of these powers that CSIS will acquire but the government wanted the spy agency to be able to act quickly if they see a threat.

Kent Roach, a law professor at the University of Toronto, said the law that makes it a crime to encourage terrorism will likely not hold up in court. He called it too vague. “There is a potential that it will chill expression,” Roach said. “It could be seen as disproportionately targeting the Muslim community and expressions of general support for terrorism in some parts of the world.”