OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper had already made the decision to kick a controversial cyber crime bill to committee even before Opposition howled because he sensed a public backlash was rolling his way, QMI Agency has learned.
Harper made the decision to send the bill to the public safety committee after his return from China on Sunday morning, but that was only made public Wednesday to quell Opposition anger and concerns among privacy watchdogs and backbench government MPs.
Though not unusual, it is rare for a piece of legislation to get punted from the floor of the House of Commons to committee before second reading.
Sources said Harper wanted the bill sent to committee to allow stakeholders to air their grievances in a more controlled forum and to give MPs a window to plug any loopholes through amendments and to satisfy public concerns about privacy.
The legislation has kicked up a firestorm over fears it would give certain federal agencies and police intrusive powers to electronically snoop on Canadians without a court warrant.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews fuelled the outrage after he painted opponents of the bill as defenders of child pornography.
Toews said Thursday the bill was not rushed nor hastily crafted and that much of the outcry is unwarranted and politically charged.
“I hear a lot of concerns expressed that are not substantiated if you actually look at the legislation,” he said in an interview. “There is still the idea somehow that private information is being shared without a warrant and that’s clearly not true.”
Asked what sort of amendments the government would entertain, Toews said: “If there is private information in e-mails and web surfing that somehow is being shared without a warrant I’d want that addressed … but I don’t believe that’s occurring.”
The bill is called the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act and would give police powers to troll online for perverts and other undesirables. Telecommunications providers would be required to hand over customer information.
Mark.Dunn@sunmedia.ca
Twitter:MarkDunnSun
Article source: http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/02/16/harper-sensed-cyber-outrage-was-looming
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