Justice committee  You're putting up a straw man there, because I didn't say that. I don't know of many people who did say that. What I said is that it weakens the standard at a time when people are looking for increased standards. And why are we doing that in this digital age when this informatio

Justice committee  I do. I think that weakening the standard is taking us in the wrong direction when this information has become more and more powerful in terms of what it reveals about our private lives. And not notifying people who are innocent in these cases seems to be really irresponsible.

Justice committee  I think it's hugely problematic that we're giving more powers, we're extending access to people's private information, to CSIS and CSEC, for example. Right now those agencies have a bit of a crisis of legitimacy; they're in a PR overdrive because of the Snowden revelations. And I

Justice committee  Yes, they suspect it. I get that. I understand.

Justice committee  Yes, so why weaken that?

Justice committee  Yes, absolutely. I think that when Canadians are seeing the Snowden revelations and at the same time hearing--not only through this legislation but also Bill S-4--the revelations about CSEC and CSIS.... I think when people hear those stories over and over again, it does limit t

Justice committee  I think they are, and again, many scholars have come before you to say that. I think that change does weaken the threshold, and I think that right now, Canadians, including in your riding for sure, are looking for more safeguards, not fewer.

Justice committee  I also am not a lawyer, but the legal consensus that I've heard is that it changes the standard from a reason to believe to a reason to suspect.

Justice committee  I've heard it from legal scholars whom I trust, including Michael Geist, the Canada research chair, so I think that's a legitimate source. Do you not?

Justice committee  Well, you should check it again, because they're changing the standard from a reason to believe to a reason to suspect.

Justice committee  I think one difference between Bill C-30 and Bill C-13 is that, thankfully, Bill C-30 mandated warrantless disclosure, whereas this bill doesn't mandate it, but it pretty much in practice means the same thing through the immunity clause. In terms of accountability, I don't see a

Justice committee  Thanks for having me, and thank you for this opportunity to speak before the committee regarding Bill C-13. I'm Steve Anderson, the executive director of OpenMedia.ca. We're a community-based organization working to safeguard the open Internet. As you may know, OpenMedia.ca wo