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Public Safety
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The CCLA’s Public Safety Program promotes the importance of civil liberties in relation to policing and the criminal justice system. Our work recognizes the important role that governments play in protecting public safety and advocates for the striking of an appropriate balance between public safety and civil liberties in this context. We believe that governments should treat the promotion of public safety and the protection of civil liberties as mutually reinforcing objectives and approach our public safety work from this perspective.
The CCLA monitors the legal and policy frameworks that govern policing and the administration of justice in Canada to ensure that they are sufficiently respectful of civil liberties and Charter rights. When an issue of concern is identified, action is taken to encourage governments to be more respectful of civil liberties. The CCLA has a long history or promoting civil liberties in the public safety sphere and continues to build upon this expertise through its ongoing efforts in the following four key issue areas:
Police Powers
The CCLA seeks to ensure that police powers are used in a manner that is necessary, proportionate and consistent with constitutional standards. Specific police powers that the CCLA has focussed on include detention and arrest, the use of force, and search and seizure.
Police Accountability
The CCLA seeks to ensure that police services and individual officers are accountable for their actions. Accountability mechanisms, such as police complaints and external investigative bodies must be independent and effective in order to enhance public faith in policing.
Privacy and Policing
The CCLA seeks to ensure that personal privacy is adequately respected by police when they are handling personal information. This is particularly important in the context of procedures that may result in the disclosure of personal information, such as background checks.
Liberty and Due-Process
The CCLA seeks to ensure that the criminal law is flexible enough to allow the judiciary to fashion appropriate and proportionate responses to criminal conduct on a case-by-case basis.
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- Op-ed: Warrants are democratic instruments — Let’s keep them
By Communications on February 16, 2012 Op-ed originally published by PostMedia News on February 16, 2012.
Minister Toews has tabled the much vilified Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act, a bill that provides additional powers to law enforcement to obtain information from Internet providers, at times without warrant. The Bill is flawed because it makes the ISP providers agents of [...]
Category: Fundamental Freedoms, Multimedia and Features, News Highlights, Op-Ed, Police Powers, Privacy, Public Safety - CCLA appears before Senate on C10, the Omnibus Crime Bill
By Abby Deshman on February 16, 2012 CCLA’s general counsel Nathalie Des Rosiers testifies before the Senate Committee considering Bill C10, the omnibus crime bill. Listen to the hearings live on Thursday February 16, 2012, from 10:30 am – 1:30 pm EST. Links to archived video will be posted as soon as it is available. Find out more background on [...]
Category: Liberty and Due Process, Public Safety - An interview with Alan Borovoy on the new cybersurveillance bill (podcast)
By Communications on February 15, 2012 Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow posted this interview on their blog under the headline “Canada’s bull-moose civil libertarian on Canada’s new domestic spying law“. We couldn’t think of a better way to introduce this interview, from TVO’s Search Engine with Jesse Brown.
Listen: Alan Borovoy interviewed by Jesse Brown (Feb 14 2012)
Category: Audio, Multimedia and Features, News Highlights, Police Powers, Privacy, Public Safety - Show Some Love For Online Privacy!
By Communications on February 14, 2012 Show some love for online privacy – Send Vic Toews a Valentine
The writing is on the wall (or in this case perhaps it’s the homepage) – the Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act is on the federal government’s Order Paper, and according to media reports, will be introduced in Parliament today.
Although we [...]
Category: News Highlights, Police Powers, Privacy, Public Safety - CCLA Reacts To Senator’s “Give Them Rope” Idea
By Communications on February 3, 2012 Email sent to Senator Boisvenu by CCLA general counsel Nathalie Des Rosiers on February 3, 2012
Senator,
Many efforts are being made to prevent suicide particularly for people who suffer from depression. Remarks from a public figure like you, Senator, that encourage people to commit suicide are particularly damaging to the various campaigns for suicide prevention. On behalf of the families who have lost one of theirs to suicide, [...]
Category: Disability, Equality, News Highlights, Public Safety
Features & Multimedia
Demand a public inquiry now!
“It is imperative that there be a full public inquiry into what happened during the G20 in order to get at the truth and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
The maintenance of public confidence in law enforcement demands nothing less.”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the National Union of
Public and General Employees are pleased to present [...]
Op-ed: Warrants are democratic instruments — Let’s keep them
Op-ed originally published by PostMedia News on February 16, 2012.
Minister Toews has tabled the much vilified Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act, a bill that provides additional powers to law enforcement to obtain information from Internet providers, at times without warrant. The Bill is flawed because it makes the ISP providers agents of [...]
An interview with Alan Borovoy on the new cybersurveillance bill (podcast)
Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow posted this interview on their blog under the headline “Canada’s bull-moose civil libertarian on Canada’s new domestic spying law“. We couldn’t think of a better way to introduce this interview, from TVO’s Search Engine with Jesse Brown.
Listen: Alan Borovoy interviewed by Jesse Brown (Feb 14 2012)
Nathalie Des Rosiers Speaks About Lawful Access (video)
Watch Nathalie Des Rosiers, CCLA General Counsel, speak about concerns regarding lawful access legislation, as part of a project is a response to the serious threats to privacy, free speech and civil liberties raised by proposed lawful access legislation. To understand what is at stake in this invasive and costly bill, the (un)lawful access project [...]
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