| Anti-terrorism Act | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 37th Canadian Parliament | |
| |
| Citation | S.C. 2001, c. 41[1] |
| Enacted by | 37th Canadian Parliament |
| Assented to | December 18, 2001 |
TheAnti-terrorism Act (French:Loi antiterroriste)[2] is an Act passed by theParliament of Canada in response to theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks in theUnited States. It receivedRoyal Assent on December 18, 2001, as Bill C-36 of the37th Canadian Parliament. The "omnibus bill"[citation needed] extended the powers of government and institutions within theCanadian security establishment to respond to the threat of terrorism.
The expanded powers were highly controversial due to widely perceived incompatibility with theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,[3] in particular for the Act's provisions allowing for 'secret' trials, preemptive detention and expansive security and surveillance powers.[4] This Act enables theList of Terrorist Entities under its section 83.05.[5]
It was opposed by ParliamentariansMarjory LeBreton andAndrew Telegdi, amongst others.[6]
Some of the bill's provisions were set to expire on March 1, 2007. TheHarper government urged that these be renewed, while all three opposition parties were opposed. Specifically, the provisions had to do with preventative arrest and investigative hearings. On February 28, 2007, the House of Commons voted 159–124 against renewing the provisions, which later led to their expiry, as originally planned in thesunset clause.[citation needed]
In January 2010,Zakaria Amara, fromMississauga, a suspect in the2006 Toronto terrorism case, was sentenced to imprisonment for life. This sentence was the stiffest given so far under the Act.Saad Gaya fromOakville, a fellow suspect in the same case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.[7]
In 2012, the Government of Canada introduced in theSenate of Canada Bill S-7, theCombating Terrorism Act, which was to renew the expired provisions for a new five-year term, and introduced new crimes for leaving Canada to join or train with a terror group.[8] The bill also increased the maximum prison sentences for some offences related to harbouring suspected terrorists. On April 19, just after theBoston Marathon bombing, the government rearranged the Parliamentary agenda to fast-track Bill S-7 to a vote on April 22 or 23, 2013.[9] TheAct received royal assent on April 25, 2013.[1]
On the first anniversary of the7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel in a speech to a Jewish group, opposition leaderPierre Poilievre called upon the federal government to list westernYemen’sHouthi movement as a terrorist organization in Canada, according to section 83.05 of the Act.[5]
TheAct's passage has been compared to the government's activation of theWar Measures Act in accordance toterrorist activity by theFLQ.[10][11][12]
Criminal defense lawyerDavid Paciocco opposed it at the time of its passage.[6]
Ziyad Mia, of theTorontoMuslim Lawyers Association, "questioned whether the definition of terrorist activity would apply to a group that resisted, by acts of violence, the regimes ofSaddam Hussein orRobert Mugabe," and pointed out that it criminalized theFrench Resistance andNelson Mandela.[13]