Because this was a controversial issue and I heard a fair bit about it, I looked to Professor Roach and a lot of what he'd written. I was interested in something that I saw in an article, “A report card on the national security bill”, from June 23, 2017.
On the disruption powers, I was hoping to get this out there because I thought it was interesting for me, as to how I would feel about it. This is just an excerpt:
Bill C-51 was widely criticized for the open-ended new “threat reduction” powers it gave CSIS—the ability to intervene physically to reduce threats to the security of Canada.
...Bill C-59 reins in those powers. It adds a bar on torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, detention and serious property damage endangering a person. We do not believe CSIS ever wanted this authority, and so this is both a principled and entirely rational change.
...Bill C-59 stresses (repeatedly) that threat reduction powers must comply with the Charter, and it provides a closed list of what those powers are: altering or disrupting communications and goods, fabricating documents, disrupting financial transactions, impersonating persons.... This approach allows the government to argue that threat reduction powers are prescribed by law and are a reasonable and justified limit on Charter rights.
It's quite a strong statement within this article about how threat disruption powers remain, but it says they have been clarified and that they are a stronger piece. I don't want to leave the impression that this is exactly as it was in the previous legislation. There can be further discussion on the point, but this is an improved piece that does point out the prescribed limits on those powers.