Bill C-51 rally draws hundreds of protesters in downtown Edmonton

Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Edmonton Saturday afternoon to demand the federal government scrap an anti-terror bill they say is rushed and ripe for abuse.

“We don’t need to have things rammed down our throat,“ said Doug Yearwood, who helped organized the protest, one of many taking place across Canada Saturday.

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“[We need] an honest and open conversation about what our security rights and what our privacy right encompass.”

Standing in front of the doors of Canada Place, the protesters held signs with images of Stephen Harper claiming “Big Brother is watching you,” while others decried the "criminalization of dissent.”

I grew up in Canada with no fear of anything until a few years ago, where it all came crashing down.- Naiha Wasi

Yearwood worried the vague wording of the bill could be used to target people who disagree with the government, particularly environmental and aboriginal activists. He said supporters of the bill have ignored valid concerns over how it could be abused. Bill C-51, which is being considered by Parliament, would expand the powers of the CSIS and allow police to preemptively detain people suspected of terrorism. It would also give police more powers to target threats to Canadian security, which the act defines as including influencing the government through “unlawful means” and interfering with the country’s “financial stability.”

“It’s highly problematic that our Prime Minister is touting anyone concerned about this bill as conspiracy theorists,” he said.

Among those at the rally were NDP MP Linda Duncan and Craig Scott, the party’s democratic reform critic. Duncan said she was very concerned over how the government was handling the “extremely regressive” bill.

Many of those at the rally, such as Naiha Wasi, called for the Conservative Party to scrap C-51 entirely. She said Canada was at risk of repeating the errors made during the October Crisis, when the Liberal government enacted Canada’s War Measures Act.

“People were just being taken in, they were being questioned, they had no rights,” she said.

Wasi said the potential for abuse of Bill C-51 is too great and worried that it might have a chilling effect, making people too frightened to speak out against the Canadian government.

“As long as you’re fighting, you’re in trouble,” she said.

“I grew up in Canada with no fear of anything until a few years ago, where it all came crashing down.”