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The Huffington Post 16/02/2017 - In recent days, concerns around the impact of Bill C-23 (also know as the Preclearance Act, 2016) have been back in the news. [...] There are serious concerns, though, that such preclearance zones give foreign officers too much power in both Canada and the US. This ranges from compelling answers from travellers, to sharing the information collected with multiple branches of government, to denying permanent residents direct entrance to their country. Bill C-23, introduced by current Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale in June 2016,
 would replace the 2001 version of the Preclearance Act. While it may speed up border crossing for some, it poses threats for others. The Preclearance Act, 2001, allows individuals to withdraw from the preclearance process at anytime. They would not be allowed to enter the United States, but neither would they be required to remain in the preclearance area, answer any further questions or provide a reason for withdrawing. There are many reasons why people would want to withdraw. For example, if a border guard begins asking personal, leading or offensive questions (as many Muslims and people of color have already reported at the border), one could simply decide to leave the pre-clearance area.
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Pre-clearance bill would give U.S. border agents in Canada new powers
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OpenMedia 15/02/2017 - In December, the government
promised to be transparent in informing Canadians about the results of the closely-watched consultation, following a
joint letter from over 30 leading civil society organizations and privacy experts. All submissions received up to December 15 were published today, with the remainder expected to be made public in the coming weeks.
"We applaud Public Safety Canada on taking this significant step for transparency," said Victoria Henry, digital rights specialist with OpenMedia.
 "However the real test for the government will be in how it analyzes, interprets, and ultimately responds to the concerns expressed by the tens of thousands of participants in this consultation."
Henry continued: "Recent events, such as the Trump administration's decision to
strip all privacy rights from Canadians' personal information, have made it even more important to get this consultation right. All of us deserve to see the complete repeal of Bill C-51 and strong privacy rules to keep us safe from surveillance - and that's the standard we'll be holding this government to."
OpenMedia remains concerned that the consultation wording was
skewed toward the narrow interests of police rather than the privacy needs of Canadians, and is now planning to work with its community to analyze the results.
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EuroNews 15/02/2017 - Shock-jock radio hosts who are heard on what's termed as "trash radio" also seemed to initially feel regret. "I recognise it; I erred, It won't happen again," said Sylvain Bouchard, a morning radio host who admitted that he hadn't spoken to a single Muslim community leader in all his years of ranting about Islam and Muslims. And yet, other radio hosts continued with their hate-filled narratives, including one who spoke derisively about an obituary for one of the deceased men. And that's the real concern: that despite the heartfelt words that we've heard from politicians, and the acts of solidarity of thousands of Canadians who braved frigid weather to
 participate in vigils, human chains, and rallies across the country, that people will forget that Islamophobia threatens all of us. While the Quebec City mosque attack illustrates the very worst manifestation of the irrational fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims, the sad reality is that on a daily basis there are acts of discrimination and marginalisation of Canadian Muslims. any other group in society and Muslims face the most discrimination. Hate crimes against Muslims have doubled over the most recent three-year period for which we have the numbers for - the only group to see a significant increase. So while it is critical that Canadian Muslims continue to speak up against all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination, there is clearly a need to better understand and study the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia. To that end, the federal government is considering a motion put forward by Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid that recommends further study of these issues.
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Chantal Hébert: Les marchands du temple
Toronto Star 16/01/2017 - Taylor says he never did believe that a prohibition on religious signs, be it on those who sit on the court benches or wear a police uniform, was necessarily in keeping with Quebec's secular character. In his op-ed, it comes across as little more than a bone thrown to the many Quebecers who felt their identity was threatened by expressions of religious diversity. The proposal had more to do with marketing than actual values. Taylor writes that he thought the recommendation would help a majority of Quebecers buy in to the more positive prescriptions of the report. The opposite, of course, happened. Even with the best of
 intentions, opportunism is not a substitute for principles. Taylor also predicts that should the National Assembly ever put the restrictions on religious signs he once advocated into law, the courts would throw them out. That too is a bit of a stunning admission. Over the past decade, there has not been in Canada a substantial court ruling that would infirm or affirm Taylor's doubts as to the legal standing of the proposal he is recanting. In other words, if he believes it would probably not survive a Charter challenge now, he would have had cause to suspect as much at the time of the writing of the report. [...] It took courage for Taylor to repudiate a notion that has driven Quebec's identity debate for the best part of a decade. Still one cannot help but regret that he did not exhibit that courage nine years ago, at the time of the co-writing of the report that bears his name.
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Charles Taylor: Le temps de la réconciliation
Les libéraux fédéraux refusent d'élargir leur motion dénonçant l'islamophobie
Growing group of Tory leadership hopefuls oppose move to have House of Commons denounce Islamophobia
Tories supported NDP motion denouncing Islamophobia in October
The Muslim-bashing PQ has a late-game attack of remorse
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rabble.ca 10/02/2017 - It should have established once and for all for the Canadian Muslim man that the colour of his skin, the accent he bears, the name that he carries, and the faith that he identifies with is not a threat. This should have been the ultimate sacrifice of those six men, the 17 children who lost their fathers, and the community that has been living in fear. But, by not naming and prosecuting this terrorism, we have not only evaded responsibility of defining terrorism
 correctly, we have let down all those people who need to finally be stripped of the label that vilifies them. The tragic irony in the fate of the Canadian Muslim is that he is forever the villain but never the victim of terrorism. And, the tragedy is twofold for these men. Not only have they likely carried the burden of a label that disparaged them, a label that made it more difficult for them to integrate and make a life in Canada, the true definition of that very damning label is what ended their stories.
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L'actualité 13/02/2017 - La sociologue Barbara Perry est l'une des rares chercheuses qui gardent ce phénomène à l'œil. Professeure à l'Institut universitaire de technologie de l'Ontario, elle mène l'un des seuls programmes de recherche sur la violence d'extrême droite au Canada. Ces dernières années, elle a interviewé des sympathisants, scruté leurs activités sur le Web, répertorié les dizaines d'attaques violentes qu'ils ont perpétrées au pays. Selon ses estimations, au moins une centaine de groupes suprémacistes ou néonazis sont actifs au Canada [...] "On constate un débordement d'activité depuis environ huit mois. Nos observations en ligne et hors ligne nous permettent d'affirmer que ces groupes sont plus visibles et actifs, ce qui ne signifie pas
 nécessairement que leurs rangs grossissent, mais qu'ils sont plus assurés de leur bon droit, de leur légitimité. Ils sentent qu'ils peuvent sortir de l'ombre et épouser les convictions qui, à leurs yeux, ont été si longtemps réprimées. [Q]uand on parlait aux forces de l'ordre ou aux agences de renseignement, que ce soit au niveau local, provincial ou fédéral, on voyait que le problème n'était tout simplement pas sur leur radar. La plupart du temps, elles niaient l'existence de ces groupes ou banalisaient la menace qu'ils représentaient, malgré des preuves du contraire. Pourtant, nous avons répertorié 120 actes de violence perpétrés par l'extrême droite au pays au cours des 30 dernières années. Pendant la même période, nous avons compté seulement 7 actes issus de l'extrémisme islamiste. Jusqu'ici, au Canada, l'extrême droite et le suprémacisme blanc ont généré beaucoup plus d'actes de violence que l'islamisme radical.
Lire plus - Read more
No, there is no such thing as 'reverse' terrorism
PayPal freezes Canadian media group's account over story about Syrian family
Husbands Are Deadlier Than Terrorists
AJ+ video: A Difference Between Terror Acts?
The Parliament Hill Shooting Got Six Times More US Coverage Than the Quebec Mosque Attack
48 questions the FBI uses to determine if someone is a likely terrorist
As tensions rise, Steve Bannon and ISIS closer to their common goal: civilizational war
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The Canadian Press 12/02/2017 - Immigration lawyers say they've received an influx of requests from refugees in the U.S. hoping to seek asylum in Canada - despite an agreement that makes it nearly impossible. The Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement requires people to apply for asylum in the first country where they arrive, unless an immediate family member lives in the other country. The Canadian government has faced pressure to repeal the agreement since President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning travel and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. But Canada's
 government has so far refused. Alastair Clarke, of Clarke Immigration Law in Winnipeg, said that's a mistake. He said 10 new clients have been referred to him in the last week - some of whom crossed the border on foot, successfully bypassing border points so they could make their refugee claims once already in the country. It's a method police say is on the rise - the RCMP said 21 people were arrested for illegally crossing the border into Emerson, Man., Saturday. Clarke said it's putting people at risk. "They're crossing farmer fields on foot,'' he added. "When it's -10, -15 with the wind chill factors, it's highly risky.''
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Canada arrests nearly 70 asylum seekers at US border following Trump travel ban
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The Independent 11/02/2017 - Campaigners opposed to Donald Trump's travel ban are celebrating after the White House said it would not challenge an appeals court ruling in the Supreme Court. The President had said he was confident that his lawyers would win the argument before the country's highest court - saying on twitter 'see you in court'. But against the risk that he could
 suffer his fourth legal setback over the ban on travel to the US for people from seven Muslim-majority countries, the White House announced it would not for now pursue the legal battle any further. It came as Mr Trump said he would likely introduce another, or reworked executive order, to address the issue of immigration to the US from certain countries.
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Nexus trusted-traveller cards reinstated, at least for now, minister says
Democracy Now! 13/02/2017 - Immigrant communities across the country are on edge after federal immigration agents arrested over 600 people in the past week in the largest raids since Donald Trump became president. Raids were reported in at 11 states, including California, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin. On Sunday, Trump tweeted, "The
 crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!" Immigrant rights activists say the actions signal a clear shift by the Trump administration to deport people who were considered a "low priority" for removal under President Obama. We speak to California state Senate President Kevin de León and Steven Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.
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The Guardian 08/02/2017 - A senior White House adviser on Sunday denounced federal judges who have stood in the way of Donald Trump's controversial travel ban, warning that "the whole world will soon see" that the president's executive powers "will not be questioned". "We have a judiciary that has taken far too much power and become in many cases a supreme branch of government," said Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to Trump on immigration issues, appearing on the
 CBS program Face the Nation. "Our opponents, the media and the whole world will soon see as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned." At the same time, Miller signaled that the White House is contemplating a new, narrower executive order to impose its travel ban on refugees and travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries, after a federal appeals panel seemed to suggest that a revised ban could pass legal scrutiny. The original order is temporarily blocked in federal court.
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iPolitics 15/02/2017 - 'Civic space' is the set of conditions that allow people to organize, participate and communicate freely and without discrimination. Many Canadians may be surprised to learn that Canada is not a global leader in this area. According to the CIVICUS Monitor, a global tool that tracks 134 countries, Canada is not one of the 16 countries rated as 'open' - it is instead classified as 'narrowed'. If the Trudeau government remains on its current course, it will have the lowest commitment to international assistance of any Canadian government in the
 last fifty years. The situation for civil society in Canada has worsened as a result of recent restrictions on the basic rights of individuals and organizations to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression. Despite the government's promise to amend Bill C-51, this controversial law continues to threaten Canadians' freedom to peacefully protest and assemble without fear of surveillance or repercussions. Audits of charities' political activities that started under the previous government also continue to harm civil society. Last year, the Canadian Unitarian Council was forced to remove references to 'justice' and 'social justice' from its mission statement.
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The Guardian 10/02/2017 - The FBI is investigating political activists campaigning against the Dakota Access pipeline, diverting agents charged with preventing terrorist attacks to instead focus their attention on indigenous activists and environmentalists. The Guardian has established that multiple officers within the FBI's joint terrorism taskforce have attempted to contact at least three people tied to the Standing Rock "water protector" movement in North Dakota. The purpose of the officers' inquiries into Standing
 Rock, and scope of the task force's work, remains unknown. Agency officials declined to comment. But the fact that the officers have even tried to communicate with activists is alarming to free-speech experts who argue that anti-terrorism agents have no business scrutinizing protesters. "The idea that the government would attempt to construe this indigenous-led non-violent movement into some kind of domestic terrorism investigation is unfathomable to me," said Lauren Regan, a civil rights attorney who has provided legal support to demonstrators who were contacted by representatives of the FBI. "It's outrageous, it's unwarranted ... and it's unconstitutional."
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Veterans unite for second 'deployment' against Dakota Access Pipeline
With Executive Order on Policing, Trump Declares Racialized War on Dissent
A Paris, un rassemblement contre le « délit de solidarité »
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Autres nouvelles - More news
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Action
Trudeau: Settle the Canadian Torture-by-Proxy Cases NOW!
Change.org - Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin are three Canadian citizens who were found by two judicial inquiries to have been tortured with the complicity of agencies of the Canadian government between 2001 and 2004. On December 3, 2009, a motion of the House of Commons, supported by the
 Liberals and NDP, called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to apologize to and compensate these men. Harper refused to act, forcing the men and their families to pursue lawsuits. The apparent opening represented by the 2015 election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was quickly closed when his government refused to settle the lawsuit. Please sign now!
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ICLMG - The federal government's consultation on National Security is over but you can still use our answers for educational purposes. They are now available in one
single PDF document for convenience. We will be keeping a close eye on the follow-up to the consultation and keep you posted.
 We would also like to know how many people used our answers and what you thought of them. Please take a few minutes to write us at
[email protected] and tell us if you have used and shared our answers, if people you know have used them, and what you thought of them. Thank you!
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Action
Petition: Fight Trump's Muslim Ban
The Broadbent Institute - Dear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen, The recent executive order by President Trump banning Muslim immigrants and refugees is stunning in its brazenness, clearly racist in origin, damaging to the lives of real people, and has undoubtedly made the world a more dangerous place for us all.
 I am calling on you to take the following steps immediately:
1. Publicly denounce the executive order in explicit terms. 2. Lift the current cap on private sponsorship of refugees. 3. After clearance, offer status to those stranded by the executive order.
4. Immediately suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. We need more than words at this time. We need definitive leadership and action to stand up against this bigotry.
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Action
Petition: Stop Stingray Surveillance
OpenMedia - Stingrays (also known as "IMSI-catchers") are surveillance devices that can suck up sensitive, personal info in our cell phones. Calls, emails, and texts - our most intimate moments. You don't have to do anything wrong to be a victim. Stingrays CAN'T target one person. They CAN vacuum up an
 entire neighbourhood, or the private data of up to 10,000 people at once. We know they're being used in countries including the U.S. and Australia, and other governments are fighting to keep their use a secret. We must rein this in. Tell law-makers: It's time to put a stop to invasive Stingray cellphone surveillance.
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Justice for Hassan Diab - Hassan has been torn away from all moral supports, i.e., family, friends, and supporters who remain in his
 home country, Canada. He must defend himself in an unfamiliar legal system and language. Here are some ways you can help prevent Hassan's wrongful conviction.
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CCR - Under Canada's immigration law, children are supposed to be detained only as a "last resort". But children are
 regularly detained in Canada. They are detained on grounds of identity or flight risk, or they are a "guest" in detention accompanying a detained parent.
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Amnesty International - Saeed Malekpour is a Canadian permanent resident originally from Iran. Imprisoned in Iran since 4 October 2008, in 2010, he was sentenced to death as a result of an open source web program he created for uploading photos to the internet.
 Ill-treated, tortured and denied medical care until he confessed, Saaed reported his televised 'confession' was the only 'evidence' used against him in court to secure his conviction. In 2012 his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment at the notorious Evin Prison. He was also sentenced to a further 7 years in prison for speaking out about the torture he was subjected to in pre-trial detention.
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Action
Justin Trudeau, faites libérer Raïf Badawi
Amnistie internationale - Nous soussignés, désirons porter à votre attention que Raif Badawi est emprisonné depuis juin 2012 pour avoir publié des textes qui appellent à plus de respect des uns envers les autres. Selon les lois en Arabie saoudite, ces textes ne seraient pas acceptables. Depuis début 2013, tous les principaux défenseurs de
 droits humains indépendants d'Arabie saoudite ont été emprisonnés, réduits au silence ou ont fui le pays. La situation terriblement injuste dans laquelle se trouve Raif Badawi tient particulièrement à cœur aux gens d'ici. D'ailleurs près de 57 000 signatures vous ont déjà été remises le 2 novembre 2015. Cependant nous vous voyons que trop peu intervenir pour intercéder en faveur de sa libération. Monsieur Trudeau, il est temps d'entrer de façon publique dans ce dossier.
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The Secret Law Gazette is a project run by Craig Forcese, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa, as part of my National Security Law blog. The Secret Law Gazette publishes "secret laws" in the area of national security in Canada. "Secret laws" include
 ministerial directives, memoranda of understanding, and internal policies and procedures which affect and govern the conduct of Canada's security agencies, but are excluded from the regular publication requirements for Canadian law. Craig Forcese welcomes contributions from others.
Check out the website!
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Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement les positions de la CSILC - The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG
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The News Digest is ICLMG's weekly publication of news articles, events, calls to action and much more regarding national security, anti-terrorism, and civil liberties. The ICLMG is a national coalition of
43 Canadian civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
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La revue de l'actualité est notre publication hebdomadaire de nouvelles, d'évènements, d'appels à l'action, et beaucoup plus, entourant la sécurité nationale, la lutte au terrorisme, et les libertés civiles. La CSILC est une coalition nationale de
43 organisations de la société civile canadienne qui a été créée suite aux attentats terroristes de septembre 2001 aux États-Unis.
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Halilovic well, but the two had friends in common and attended the same mosque. He said the group photo was taken at a wedding four years ago. [...] Aber said he was refused on the pretext that he didn't have the right travel documents. "I received an official paper saying I didn't have papers, a passport or an immigration visa that was valid." But he said he was travelling on a Canadian passport that expires in 2026. He requested more information, he said, but was not given any. [...] Aber is the fifth Canadian with Moroccan roots that CBC knows of to be denied entry at one of Quebec's border points with Vermont.
