Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the federal Liberals must either heavily amend their border bill or introduce a new piece of proposed legislation if they want support to pass it into law.
“We’ve told Liberals that their current Bill C-2 will not pass unless they remove the violations of Canadians’ individual freedoms and privacy,” Poilievre said in an interview with CBC News.
“We don’t think that law-abiding Canadians should lose their liberty to pay for the failures of the Liberals on borders and immigration.”
The Strong Borders Act, known as C-2, is a marquee piece of Liberal government legislation, introduced in the spring sitting in part as an effort to persuade the Trump administration that its concerns about border security — used to justify tariffs — were unwarranted.
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon has said it’s about “ensuring law enforcement has the tools to keep our border secure,” but civil rights groups and privacy experts criticized it, saying some provisions appear to go far beyond the stated aims of the legislation.
The federal government unveiled a sweeping bill on Tuesday that it says is designed to strengthen the border and address other U.S. irritants. The Strong Borders Act also looks to crack down on fentanyl and tighten the rules around asylum claims.
The 140-page proposed law includes sweeping powers for security and intelligence services, including expanding the ability to open and inspect mail and allowing officials to cancel or suspend immigration documents.
Bill C-2 also proposes giving police the ability to demand subscriber information from internet providers and other online companies — which could amount to law enforcement asking an internet company about a customer’s online activity without a warrant.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has said such information provides “a trove of background about our lives” and questioned whether such a bill is compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Conservatives had previously expressed concerns about “snooping provisions” in the bill, and on Friday, Poilievre confirmed his party will not support the existing bill and called on the Liberals to introduce a new piece of legislation.
Civil liberties groups are concerned that the federal government’s Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, will give law enforcement agencies sweeping new powers, such as making it easier for police to search internet activity and data without a warrant or a person’s knowledge.
“We’ve said to them that there’s no way they’re going to be able to pass their current bill, C-2, which attacks the freedoms and the privacy of Canadians,” he said.
“They should reintroduce a new bill that focuses on law breakers, on restoring order at the border, on kicking out fraudulent refugees, while at the same time allowing people to send mail, use the internet or do legitimate lawful cash transactions.”
Poilievre said law enforcement officials are still able to do searches — including searching mail — but they need a warrant to do so.
“Mail is the easiest thing to get a warrant for. If you suspect there’s something suspicious in a parcel or envelope, you set it aside, you go to a judge and you get a warrant. The envelope or parcel is not going to grow legs and run away,” he said.
In a minority Parliament, the Liberals need votes from at least one other party to pass legislation. Both the New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois have expressed similar concerns about government overreach.
A spokesperson in MacKinnon’s office declined to comment on whether the government would be open to significantly changing the bill or introducing a new bill.