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Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant

(LifeSiteNews) – A Canadian Member of Parliament has denounced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a bill that seeks to legalize violations of privacy

Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant sent an email to her supporters describing the tactics that the Trudeau Liberals have employed to thwart privacy laws. (Full text below.)

Gallant explained how Trudeau’s government seems to have ignored judgements from courts and decided to go ahead with intrusive measures that could give the federal government unprecedented access to the private lives of Canadians via their mobile devices.

The MP for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke cited examples of  government agents at the Canadian borderbreaking protocol and searching the cellphones of travelers without just cause. In addition, she cited a “damning” report from the Privacy Commissioner.

Gallant called called Trudeau “a socialist with authoritarian tendencies” and “not a liberal.”

The full text of the email has been included so that it can be read in full:

Two years ago, a court in Alberta issued a decision arising from a case involving the search of a phone at the Edmonton airport. In the decision, the court found that the search of digital devices violated the right to be free from any and all unreasonable searches and seizures under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court gave the government one year to update the law to ensure Border Agents follow the Charter of Rights.

Last year, Trudeau was too busy plotting his pandemic election to bother passing changes to the law which governs Border Agents. The NDP-Liberal socialist alliance has now introduced its update to the law…through the Senate. They put this before the Senate because the media rarely pay attention to what is going on in the Senate.

The socialist alliance wants to have the power to search your phone.

Normally, if the government wants to search your phone, it would have to go to court and present the reasons they believe searching your phone would provide evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Law enforcement must convince a Justice of the Peace that they have “reasonable grounds to believe”. Those words, “reasonable grounds to believe”, are key.

Over the years and across many court cases, the phrase “reasonable grounds to believe” has been clearly defined. Prosecutors, judges, and defence lawyers KNOW what “reasonable grounds to believe” means. But, that is not what the socialist alliance bill says.

Trudeau wants to be able to search your phone if his Border Agents have a “reasonable general concern”. According to Brenda McPhail, the director of the privacy, technology and surveillance program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association this is a shockingly low and completely legally novel threshold”.

McPhail goes on to say:

“The lower the threshold for these searches, the easier it is for individual officers exercising their discretion to use their search authority in ways that are potentially discriminatory or racist, based on their own implicit, hidden bias – not even necessarily maliciously or on purpose.”

This bill clearly has major privacy implications. You would think the government would consult with the Privacy Commissioner. Especially after the Privacy Commissioner conducted an investigation into the Border Agents’ practice of searching cell phones three years ago.

But they did not consult the Commissioner. Probably because they knew they didn’t want to hear what he had to say. They knew this because the Commissioner issued a report into Canada Border Services Agency’s practice of searching cell phones, laptops and other digital devices.

The report is damning.

For example, the Border Agency has regulations about how it conducts searches of digital devices. One regulation is the requirement that the officer turn on airplane mode for any digital device they intend to search. This is to ensure they do not conduct any searches which require an internet connection. They are only allowed, under the law, to search for documents currently stored on your phone. They cannot check your social media or bank apps through your phone.

But that is not what the Commissioner found.

Out of the six complaints the Commissioner investigated, he found that Border Agents had searched one person’s social media and bank account using that person’s phone. In another 3 cases, the Border Agents did not enable airplane mode as they are required to do. In the remaining 2 cases being investigated, the Border Agents did take note of whether they did or did not turn on airplane mode. This means in 100% of the cases, the Border Agents broke their own rules, or they could not prove they hadn’t broken the rules.

Under those rules, the Border Agents are supposed to only search a digital device when they have multiple grounds to believe a search is required, and they are supposed to record those grounds. In all 6 cases the Commissioner reviewed, the Border Agents failed to record their grounds for searching the phones.

So, we have the Privacy Commissioner issuing an investigation in 2019 stating the Border Agents were not following their own regulations on conducting searches of digital devices. Then we have the Court striking down the part of the Act allowing Border Agents to search digital devices.

Now the Socialist Alliance is inventing a new legal threshold to make it easier for Border Agents to search your phone.

This is bad, but what makes it worse is the government of Canada now requires you to have an app on a mobile phone to re-enter Canada.

Remember, Justin Trudeau tried to suspend Parliament for two years at the start of the pandemic. He actually did suspend it to shut down investigations into the WE Charity scandal. And it was only two months ago he became the first Prime Minister to use the Emergencies Act to resolve a municipal parking dispute.

This is because Justin Trudeau is not a liberal.

He is a socialist.

He is a socialist with authoritarian tendencies.

He dragged the Liberal party so far to the left that they could form an actual alliance with the NDP.

Paul Martin never did that in a minority government.

Lester Pearson never did that in a minority government.

Even Pierre “War Measures Act” Trudeau did not form an alliance with the NDP while in minority government.

When the government MANDATES that you carry a mobile phone to re-enter the country, and then gives itself vague powers to search your phone, it gets harder to say we live in a free country.

Let me assure you, Conservatives will fight this every way we can. The first step is to tell every Canadian what Trudeau is planning. Trudeau introduced this bill in the Senate so the media would ignore it. Not one legacy news media outlet has reported on it.

That means this is up to us to get the word out.

Like and share this video.

Add a comment so your friends will see it.

Contact the Senators and tell them to oppose this bill.

Don’t let Trudeau bury the truth about his plans.

Tell everyone you know

Sincerely,

Cheryl Gallant, M.P.

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