OTTAWA — Citing the attacks by radical Islamists that killed two Canadian soldiers in October and the more recent assaults in France, Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced sweeping legislation on Friday that would greatly expand the role of Canada’s spy service, allowing courts to remove online postings and increasing police detention powers.
“Jihadi terrorism is one of the most dangerous enemies our world has ever faced,” Mr. Harper said at a campaign-style event in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill. “It seeks to harm us here in Canada, in our cities and in our neighborhoods, through horrific acts like deliberately driving a car at a defenseless man or shooting a soldier in the back as he stands on guard at a War Memorial,” he said, referring to the two deaths last fall.
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Errol Mendes, a law professor specializing in constitutional rights at the University of Ottawa, said that while some of the measures in the bill are similar to British laws, the Canadian Parliament lacks the oversight powers its British counterpart has over national security agencies.
“The chances of abuse will be very high if we don’t have adequate oversight,” he said. “This is part of an agenda of raising fears.”
