Time to listen

Thomas Walkom slams the lack of attention given to programs in Canada which largely match the type of illegal surveillance that's set off a firestorm in the U.S.:

This week, when former Supreme Court chief justice Antonio Lamer hinted that a secretive government snooping agency called the Communications Security Establishment may be breaking the law, he received 630 words on page eight of the Globe, nothing in the Post or Star and 126 words in The Record of Kitchener-Waterloo...

In late 2001, Parliament quietly gave (the Communications Security Establishment) Bush-like authority to monitor Canadian telephone and Internet traffic without judicial warrant — as long as one of the parties was outside the country and the minister of defence agreed.

Ottawa also appointed a watchdog, latterly Lamer, to ensure that the agency kept within the law.

In his most recent report, the former Supreme Court judge gives the security agency what can only called a lukewarm endorsement, noting that it is complying with the law "as it is currently interpreted by the Department of Justice."

But he also says that he disagrees with this interpretation (he doesn't explain how) and that, in any case, the agency is not giving him enough information to determine whether its surveillance of Canadians is necessary.

Or, as he puts it, in the mind-numbing language of Canadian bureaucratese: "The lack of clarity in this regard has made it difficult for my staff to assess compliance with certain of the conditions that the legislation requires to be satisfied before a ministerial authorization is given."

Which, simply put, means Canada's electronic snoops may be breaking the law but Lamer doesn't know for sure since no one will tell him.

It's remarkable indeed that the issue hasn't received more attention in Canada - both from Cons who could use the Libs' policy as a basis to pretend that Bush is nothing to be concerned about, and from those of us who don't support warrantless, extralegal surveillance with no oversight. But while the issue may not have received much column space just yet, it isn't too late for Canadians to declare that they aren't any more willing to accept such intrusions when they originate in Canada than when they're imposed by Bushco.