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Opinion | Border bill primed to give Mark Carney’s government sweeping new powers. Who asked for this?

Updated
3 min read
Althia Carney 2.JPG

Prime Minister Mark Carney during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Tuesday.


Althia Raj is a national politics columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @althiaraj

It was “elbows up” during the federal election campaign as Mark Carney’s Liberals portrayed themselves as fierce fighters against U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration’s slide towards authoritarianism. But now it’s “elbows down” as the prime minister’s new government tries to appease Trump’s White House and puts Canadians’ privacy rights and those of asylum seekers on the chopping block.

The “Strong Borders Act,” a sweeping omnibus bill was tabled Tuesday. It has 16 parts, and amends more than a dozen laws in ways that affect the rights of citizens and non-citizens, measures that Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree stated were a response to “some of the concerns that have been posed by the White House.” But it also includes long-standing requests by Canadian law enforcement agencies who waited for an opportune time to slide through legislative changes.

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Althia Raj

Althia Raj is a national politics columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @althiaraj

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