Jay Currie (hat tip Kathy Shaidle) weighs in on C-51, the anti-terrorism bill. He's got a lot of really good stuff in it, I highly encourage you to go and read it. But for our purposes, what got Shaidle's attention is the key bit:
Bill C 51 seems to be a relatively well thought through approach to the problem of combating terrorism in a free and democratic society. It will, likely, pass muster at the SCC and will allow CSIS to get up the noses of people who support terror. All good things.
But, and it is always a concern, government has a nasty tendency to take the powers it’s given and apply them in ways never within the contemplation of the legislation.
At this point we are dealing with a Conservative government which has been pretty clear eyed about where the terrorist trouble is coming from.The emphasis above is mine, and it caught my attention due to news from last night that the Turdeau Liberals will be supporting the bill.
But what if the very dim Liberals are elected and have access to this same set of tools. It is not difficult to imagine that they would loose the dogs of CSIS on people engaged in Islamophobia (or what we call around here, clear thinking) or any other activity which does not contribute to Kumbaya Nation.
Now consider what Currie wrote above with regards to the mosque-visiting Liberals having their Adscam-dirty fingers in this legislation. And then consider this money quote:
Trudeau said he wants to see the bill changed to include better oversight for CSIS and regular reviews of its measures. But, he said, his party will vote for Bill C-51 even without amendments.Again, emphasis above is mine.
"This bill can be improved. But on the whole it does include measures that help keep Canadians safe," Trudeau said.
When Trudeau is talking about "improved" is he actually speaking about oversight and Parliamentary reviews? Or is his hidden agenda coming to the surface?
When in doubt, with Trudeau, bet on the latter.