Liberal government tables border security bill with sweeping new data collection powers

OTTAWA — The Liberal government tabled a significant border security bill on Tuesday that includes sweeping new powers to intercept or search communications including mail, a tightening of the asylum claim process and increased intelligence collection and sharing across the federal government. The 139-page Bill C-2, tabled Tuesday morning, proposes vast changes to Canadian border security, data collection and sharing by federal authorities, anti-money laundering rules, the asylum claim system and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). The government said the bill had three main themes: securing the border, fighting organized crime and fentanyl and boosting the fight against financial crimes. Throughout all those themes are improved powers for law enforcement and intelligence services like CSIS to access information, including some without a warrant approved by a court, or even search Canadians’ mail as part of a criminal investigation. It would also increase the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) ability to search containers exiting the country by obligating transporters and warehouse operators to provide site access to border agents for export inspections. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree told reporters on Tuesday that the new data collection and sharing powers in the bill also come with the necessary safeguards. “In order for me to bring forward legislation, it needed to have the safeguards in place. It needed to be in line with the values of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and I fundamentally believe that that we have struck the balance that, while expanding powers in certain instances, does have the safeguards and the protections in place to protect individual freedoms or rights,” the minister said. With regards to border security, a frequent gripe against Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump, the bill proposes to tighten rules around asylum claims, allow the RCMP to share information about registered sex offenders with domestic international partners and gives the CCG a new protective security role. For example, the bill would allow the government to deem inadmissible wide swaths of asylum claimants. Among them, asylum claim received over 365 days after an applicant arrived in Canada (retroactively to June 24, 2020). That measure, if passed, would likely impact tens of thousands of asylum claims received from international students after the Liberals drastically cut down on foreign study permits last year. The bill would also close a loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. by blocking asylum claims made 14 days after an applicant crossed into Canada from the U.S. clandestinely by land. The bill also proposes to give the Canadian Coast Guard a new security mandate and the ability to share information with the military and intelligence agencies. If the legislation passes, the Coast Guard would be given power to start conducting “security patrols” to monitor suspicious vessels near the border or in the Arctic and share information gathered with security organizations. As a civilian agency, it is currently not allowed to share the data with the military or intelligence agencies. The Liberals are also proposing to increase civil and criminal penalties for failing to comply with Canadian anti-money laundering and terrorism funding laws while boosting compliance and surveillance obligations. The bill would also set new limits on cash transactions above $10,000 in order to curb money laundering. The bill would also implement a new Act forcing almost any organization that offers nearly any form of “electronic services” to organize users’ data to ensure that it can be requested and accessed by law enforcement or intelligence agencies if necessary and approved. In other words, an organization that uses any form of electronic services geared towards people in Canada or that operates in the country will have to implement tools to ensure data relating to those services and the users can be extracted and provided to authorities when mandated. The bill reprised some of the legislative measures promised by Justin Trudeau’s government back in December but that weren’t tabled at the time because the former prime minister prorogued Parliament in early January. National Post Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.