Anti-terrorism bill really about suppressing Aboriginal people, critics tell MPs – APTN
March 24, 2015
OTTAWA – The federal government’s omnibus security bill would hand extremists what they want by shackling civil liberties, a prominent Aboriginal lawyer and activist says.
There is no way to fix the legislation, which “makes us all suspects,” said Pamela Palmater, chair in indigenous governance at Toronto’s Ryerson University.
“The terrorists will have won,” Palmater said during a meeting of the House of Commons public safety committee, which is hearing more than 50 witnesses on the bill.
“And what is terrorism? Fundamentally, it’s the denial of life, liberty and security of the person. If Canada goes ahead and takes those rights away, terrorists just have to sit back: job done.”
