Anti-Terrorism Act Receives Royal Assent

OTTAWA December 18, 2001 - The Government of Canada announced today that tough new legislation targeting terrorists has received Royal Assent. The new measures are a part of the Government's Anti-Terrorism Plan which takes aim at terrorist organizations and strengthens investigation, prosecution and prevention of terrorist activities at home and abroad.

"This legislation strikes at the new face of modern terrorism that we saw in the horrific events of September 11," said the Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. "It reassures Canadians and our allies that Canada is serious about dealing with this long term threat to our peace and human security through effective laws that safeguard our rights and freedoms, including our most fundamental right to live in a secure and peaceful society."

The provisions under Bill C-36 will come into force soon after measures for implementation have been arranged with the provinces, territories, police and others responsible for enforcement.

Since the introduction of Bill C-36, the Government of Canada has listened carefully to the concerns of Canadians to ensure that the anti-terrorism legislation meets their needs. Canadians want measures that will protect their security and they support strong laws that deal effectively with terrorism. Canadians also want assurances that safeguards are in place to protect their rights and freedoms. The provisions in the Anti-Terrorism Act meet the need for protection of both human security and human rights.

The Anti-Terrorism Act includes measures to deter, disable, identify, prosecute, convict and punish terrorists, such as:

• defining and designating terrorist groups and activities to make it easier to prosecute terrorists and those who support them;
• making it an offence to knowingly participate in, contribute to or facilitate the activities of a terrorist group or to instruct anyone to carry out a terrorist activity or an activity on behalf of a terrorist group or to knowingly harbour a terrorist; and
• cutting off financial support for terrorists by making it a crime to knowingly collect or give funds, either directly or indirectly, in order to carry out terrorism, denying or removing charitable status from those who support terrorist groups, and by making it easier to freeze and seize their assets.

The Act will give law enforcement and national security agencies new investigative tools to gather knowledge about and prosecute terrorists and terrorist groups, as well as protect Canadians from terrorist acts, including:

• enhancing the ability to use electronic surveillance against terrorist groups with measures similar to those already in place for organized crime investigations;
• within carefully defined limits, allowing the arrest and imposition of supervisory conditions of release on suspected terrorists to prevent terrorist acts and save lives; and
• requiring individuals who have information related to a terrorist group or offence to appear before a judge to provide that information.

Measures have been included in the Act to address the root causes of hatred and to ensure Canadian values of equality, tolerance and fairness are affirmed in the wake of the September 11 attacks. These include:

• amending the Criminal Code to eliminate online hate propaganda and create a new offence of mischief against places of religious worship or religious property; and
• amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to clarify that the prohibition against spreading repeated hate messages by telephonic communications includes all telecommunications technologies.

The Anti-Terrorism Act contains rigorous safeguards to uphold the rights and freedoms of Canadians, which were further strengthened as a result of recommendations made by the House of Commons and Senate committees that studied the bill. These safeguards include:

• the Attorney General and Solicitor General of Canada, provincial Attorneys General and Ministers responsible for policing will be required to report annually to Parliament on the use of the preventive arrest and investigative hearing provisions in Bill C-36. In addition, the whole Act will be subject to a Parliamentary review in three years;
• provisions in the Act dealing with preventive arrest and investigative hearing powers will sunset after five years unless a resolution is passed by both the House of Commons and Senate to extend either or both of these powers for up to five more years. A provision will also be added to grandfather proceedings that have already started prior to the sunset date so that they can be completed, if the powers are not extended;
• the scope of Criminal Code provisions is clearly defined to ensure that they only apply to terrorists and terrorist groups; and
• the Anti-Terrorism Act is consistent with Canada's legal framework, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the requirement for due process, and the consent of the Attorney General and judicial review where appropriate.

The Anti-Terrorism Act is a key component of the Government of Canada Anti-Terrorism Plan, and it parallels the actions taken by our international partners to combat terrorism.

Together with our international partners, Canada signed the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime on November 23, 2001. The Convention is the first international agreement to facilitate the detection and prosecution of computer and computer-related crime, including cyberterrorism, money laundering and terrorist financing activities. Canada, led by the Department of Justice, played an important role in the drafting and negotiation of the convention.

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Ref.:

Farah Mohamed
Minister's Office
Department of Justice
(613) 992-4621