The federal government has introduced Bill C-2, the so-called Strong Borders Act, which is an attack on human rights, migrant and refugee rights, and the privacy rights of everyone who lives in Canada. With this bill, the Carney Liberals are letting Donald Trump write Canadian domestic policy, allowing for mass public surveillance without warrants, create a mass deportation regime for migrants, and violate the rights of refugees.
Send a letter now to stop Bill C-2!
Bill C-2 would enable mass public surveillance. It would allow police and CSIS to demand access to your online activities with any business or digital service based on “reasonable suspicion” without a warrant. This would undermine years of legal decisions that safeguard the public. Trade unionists and activists know how surveillance can be used in attempts to limit labour and social movement fights for justice.
The legislation would allow your data to be shared with the US and other foreign governments. Bill C-2 would allow Canada to implement new data sharing arrangements that are currently being developed, including with the US government. Canadians need their data protected from Donald Trump – not handed to him on a silver platter.
Bill C-2 would curtail the rights of refugee claimants, denying migrants the right to claim refugee status after one year from arrival. This would violate Canada’s commitments under international human rights law. It would also allow for the mass deportation of migrants by giving the Immigration Minister power to cancel permits for entire groups of people without due process. The bill would cancel the US border exemption, which allows migrants to apply for refugee status after 14 days, which is critical at a time when migrants in the US are being persecuted and detained. It would also allow unrestricted information sharing about migrants across all government levels.
Canada is currently in negotiations for an economic and security agreement with the US. Bill C-2 is part of a wave of federal government attempts to appease the Trump administration, on everything from cancelling policies to make tech giants like Amazon and Facebook pay their fair share, to steamrolling Indigenous rights and environmental protections to approve new pipelines.
Time after time in the recent election campaign, Prime Minister Carney said: “This is Canada, and we decide what happens here.” It’s time for him to prove it. CUPE is calling on the federal government to stop letting Donald Trump dictate human rights abuses on Canadian soil and withdraw Bill C-2.