It looks like the video we created with your support about the online spying bill C-13 has really been turning heads. Check out this piece about how Peter MacKay's bill would grant immunity to telecoms who hand over your private information without a warrant. Article by Dan Tencer for the Huffington Post Telecom companies would be granted immunity for handing over information on their customers without a warrant under a law meant to target cyberbullying, civil liberties groups say.

A few months ago Canadians sent a loud, clear message to the Canadian government to StopSpying.ca. This followed the introduction of warrantless Online Spying Bill C-30, a bizarre piece of legislation that would grant ‘authorities’ with unrestricted access to Canadians’ private information, leave our personal and financial information less secure, and implement costly spying technology that taxpayers would have to fund. When Public Safety Minister Vic Toews proclaimed that Canadians who didn’t support his bill were standing with child pornographers, the outrage was palpable, and citizens made sure Parliament heard us. In short order, online spying bill C-30 was quietly sent directly to Committee and it has yet to come back to the floor to be debated again.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has called on the government to revive the invasive Online Spying Bill C-30, granting warrantless access to the private data of citizens. Law-abiding Canadians shouldn't have to compromise their online security and privacy. If our police chiefs and government want to target criminals, they need to start over in crafting legislation for that purpose. Speak out against the intrusive Online Spying Bill C-30 at StopSpying.ca and read more about this push by police chiefs to resurrect Bill C-30 at MichaelGeist.ca. Take local action against online spying through our SOS Challenge by encouraging friends and family to join the campaign!

I spy with my little eye something that is missing from the government’s fall calendar. It’s something that’s been highly controversial, would become an invasive measure towards Internet surveillance, and would provide authorities with warrantless access to our private information. Out of guesses? It’s the hotly-contested Bill C-30, otherwise known as the online spying bill, that the government has so far omitted from their Parliamentary schedule. This is a huge victory for those who signed the StopSpying.ca petition, spread the word about the bill using our educational resources, or called on MPs to take a stand against warrantless online spying. Your participation in Canada’s Internet freedom movement is clearly making a difference—the government had initially committed to pushing this invasive and costly online spying bill through the legislative process within the first 100 sitting days of Parliament last year.

Parliament resumes this month, and as Tim Harper of the Toronto Star asserts, the highly unpopular online spying bill, C-30, is still high on the government’s agenda. As there’s little on the books for the fall session of Parliament, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is taking the opportunity to once again push his controversial legislation. But Toews may not be the Public Safety Minister for much longer—according to Harper, the online spying bill is in desperate need of a new champion following Toews’ public relations disaster earlier this year, when he asserted that all those who opposed the bill supported child pornographers. This showed blatant disrespect—not only in regards to this brutally serious crime—but also to the privacy commissioners, legal and policy expert, and thousands of Canadians who had asserted that the online spying bill is invasive, costly, and poorly thought-out. Now that Bill C-30 is so negatively linked to Toews, the Conservatives may be looking for a new salesman.

A few weeks ago, we shared how Richard Fadden, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, had put forth an offer to help justify and tweak the Online Spying Bill (C-30) to make it more 'palatable' to the Canadian public. This proposed alliance between Toews and CSIS was met with a resounding disapproval from the pro-Internet community. Our friends at Electronic Frontier Foundation have written about the new developments in Canada's fight against online spying. Let's tell CSIS that online spying will never be palatable to Canadians and that we're fed up with Bill C-30, join our petition and make your voice heard at http://StopSpying.ca. Article from the EFF: Canada’s online surveillance bill may be on hold for now, but a recent news article confirms that a rather formidable figure has been angling for its return: Richard Fadden, head of the Canadian equivalent of the FBI. Fadden, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), wrote in a letter that the highly contentious Bill C-30 was “vital” to protecting national security. The letter was sent to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, the driver behind Bill C-30, in late February. It was released to the Canadian Press in response to a request filed under the Access to Information Act.

CSIS has expressed interest in adding their own provisions to the online spying bill, in the hopes that it will be passed through government. Letting the security lobby write its own laws is not a step in the right direction. In fact, it suggests how dysfunctional the law-making process has become under Vic Toews. Laws should be citizen-centric, not lobbyist-centric. Tell your MP to stand against this invasion of privacy at http://www.openmedia.ca/stand. From CBC News: Canada's spy chief backs the Conservative government's troubled bid to bolster Internet surveillance powers, and has offered to help tweak the legislation to make it more palatable to a wary public.

Looks like Toews is looking for an escape route after insulting Canadians with his warrantless online spying plan (Bill C-30). We're continuing to press on with our StopSpying.ca campaign, but as for Toews the jury isn't out just yet. We’ll be keeping a watchful eye to see what he does next, even if it leads to a step down from federal politics. Until then, you owe us all an apology Vic. Article by Bruce Owen for the Winnipeg Free Press Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is destined for a new job on Manitoba's highest court, sources say. There are currently nine judges on the Manitoba Court of Appeal -- one works part time -- but one is due to retire shortly when he hits the compulsory retirement age of 75. There is also one opening on the Court of Queen's Bench that needs filling. Sources say Toews is in line for the Court of Appeal opening, but it's an appointment that does not have to be made immediately.