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Or sign-in if you have an account.Murray Rankin in Whistler on Sept. 15, 2022. Photo by Scott McAlpine /UBCMOTTAWA — The federal government never consulted widely on one of the most contentious parts of its lawful access reform to how police and intelligence services can obtain or intercept private data.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThat’s according to Murray Rankin, the former NDP politician and intelligence watchdog head who was tasked by the Liberal government to consult and make recommendations to the government leading up to Bill C-22.In an interview, Rankin said Canada desperately needs lawful access reform to avoid becoming an “oasis” for criminals because law enforcement doesn’t have the tools to protect Canadians like our European or Five Eyes alliance allies.But he also noted that he was never asked to make recommendations about a clause in the bill that would force yet undefined “core providers” of electronic services to retain certain categories of metadata — including transmission and location data — for up to one year so that police and Canadian spies can obtain them via warrant if a judge allows it.Bill C-22, which is currently at committee, is the Mark Carney Liberals’ second attempt at lawful access reform and comes after the government returned to the drawing board and tasked Rankin last summer to quietly consult on the bill and issue recommendations to the government.Lawful access, or the ability to obtain Canadians’ private information and intercept communications, is one of the most intrusive powers afforded to police and intelligence agencies. Creating such a regime for the digital age in Canada has been the subject of fierce debate for decades.The bill has faced fierce criticism from privacy advocates, tech giants such as Apple, Google and Meta, as well as encrypted services providers like Signal and NordVPN.But some of the most fierce criticism has targeted the bill’s one-year metadata retention clause, which privacy and security specialists argue is far too long and a violation of Canadians’ right to privacy.“Imposing a blanket obligation on a whole class of service providers to preserve everyone’s metadata for law enforcement purposes would amount to a significant interference with the privacy interests of millions of Canadians,” wrote Thompson River University law professor Robert Diab.On the other hand, some police services have told MPs they’d prefer the retention period extended to two or even three years.In an interview, Rankin told National Post that the government never brought up the one-year retention period of metadata during his roundtables, suggesting he was surprised to see the clause appear in the bill.“You know this business about the metadata, it never came up in our conversations,” Rankin said. “In my work, it never came up.”He said he was following the debate about the clause closely and noted it could be an area where the bill “can be tightened up” to assuage concerns about surveillance.“The minister said that the committee is going to do its work, and they’re open to reform. So, this could be an area where they could make reform,” he noted.In a briefing with National Post on Bill C-22, Public Safety Canada’s Shannon Hiegel said the metadata retention clause was raised “within more discreet discussions” as the legislation was being drafted.At first, the government considered punting the issue down the line and including it in regulations after the bill passed, but Hiegel said it was ultimately added into the text of C-22 “to be transparent.”“We will have to consider things like the cost of a company having to keep information, we have to then go through the privacy… charter challenge will also have to be done as well,” she noted.When he was an NDP MP, Rankin sat on the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) when it was stood up in 2017. After leaving politics in 2019, he was appointed as the first chair of the newly created National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).He said that his experience on both watchdogs taught him that lawful access reform is desperately needed as Canada is a “laggard” when it comes to giving law enforcement tools needed to obtain evidence in the digital age.“As a Canadian, I was disturbed that we didn’t have anything along the lines that our allies did,” arguing that Canada “simply didn’t have the tools to pull our weight when it comes to terrorism or espionage, that kind of thing.”In Bill C-22, the government is proposing that police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) be able to approach telecommunications companies and ask them if, yes or no, an individual is a client before having to get a warrant for more information.The bill also proposes new obligations to electronic service providers to organize and retain various types of client data for up to one year in a way that makes it obtainable by law enforcement or CSIS with a warrant.That means that if passed, the bill would compel electronic service providers to store and make information like device locations or cameras available to police or CSIS with the requisite warrant. That could be used to track a person’s live location in case they pose a threat to national security or are considered to be in danger, the government cited as examples.National Postcnardi@postmedia.comOur website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.