The online spying bill is alive and well

Image from Kyz on Flickr

There are rumours circulating about the government's online spying bill C-30 as of late, but PR aside, the government has NOT pulled the legislation, and it has failed to make any firm commitments to make substantive changes. As it stands, Bill C-30 is still alive in Parliament, including sections that allow a range of "authorities" to access the personal information of any Canadian, at any time, without a warrant.

By speaking through anonymous sources in the Globe and Mail, the government has shown that it is still trying to use PR tactics to avoid honouring our request to formally commit to removing the problematic aspects of this bill—it is warrantless, costly, and will have detrimental effects on Canadians' privacy rights.

The government's frantic PR moves are a good sign that we have its attention, but we should remain focused on our clear and simple request for a public commitment. To gain our respect and trust, the Canadian government must speak to us directly as Canadians, not through media "sources." Canadians deserve better, and we look forward to hearing from the government on where it stands.

Great job to the over 135,000 people who have the signed the StopSpying.ca petition and educated their fellow Canadians about the government's online spying plan! It's clearly working. Let's continue our efforts until the government publicly commits to pulling or drastically reforming the bill. Visit http://openmedia.ca/StandWithUs to ask your MP to take a stand against bill C-30.

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