NO THREAT IS SEVERE ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY SPYING POWERS

Re: Cabinet to look at law giving police spy power on the Internet, Aug. 19

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler and Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan have
stepped far beyond their bounds with proposed legislation aimed at giving
police sweeping powers to spy on Internet users, open private e-mails and
turn service providers into intelligence-gathering surveillance units.
There is simply no justification or perceived threat strong enough to
warrant stripping Canadians of basic fundamental rights to personal privacy
and autonomy on the Internet or anywhere else.

If the government thinks Canadians are willing to throw away all rights to
privacy just to make life easier for the police and spy agencies, they are
in for a shock.

Nothing could be more abhorrent or horrifying than to see Canada adopt
policies that were once the mainstay of the dreaded spy agencies of the
Cold War Eastern bloc where every telephone conversation was recorded,
every movement tracked and every letter opened and inspected.

If the chiefs of police and the heads of the spy agencies complain that
they can't do their jobs within the bounds and framework of a free and
democratic society, perhaps they should step aside and let others do them.
The same goes for McLellan and Cotler.

Cliff Garbutt

Vancouver