If it goes ahead we will see the construction of a surveillance state that is in some ways worse than the US
C
anada got duped. We avoided electing an outright Trump sympathiser, but we still elected a prime minister who will align our policies with the United States. Despite all the anti-Trump rhetoric and celebration of the idea that Canada was independent and had no desire to be like the US, we are now passing Maga-inspired legislation.
The newly elected Mark Carney government tabled a border bill that will give law enforcement sweeping powers in obtaining citizen’s data, and will align Canada with the US’s refugee policies. Bill C-2, or the Strong Borders Act, is presented as a border security bill. However, its reach extends beyond border applications to nearly all legislation.
In alignment with the attack on immigrant communities in the US, this bill is anti-immigrant, and in particular anti-refugee. The legislation changes the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to grant the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship extensive powers to cancel immigration documents, and to suspend or cancel intake in any immigration stream if a high number of applications are pending.
