Surveillance
The Fourth Amendment is being ignored in the name of national security.
Ignoring rising privacy concerns, the US House of Representatives gave the green light on Friday to a bill renewing the warrantless surveillance program under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Section 702, for the next two years. However, the vote witnessed the piecing together of conservative resistance that had stalled a prior chance at its approval. A shorter renewal period, as opposed to an initially proposed five-year term, was agreed upon in an attempt to win over Republican dissenters, culminating in a 273-147 vote in favor of the bill.
Increasing distrust concerning governmental surveillance powers has been apparent of late, especially amongst some conservatives who want to see the Fourth Amendment protected. The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
Disagreements over the potential framework for revamping the FISA spy program have resulted in divisions within the Republican party, evidenced by 19 members breaking away to block the legislation this week. However, an indication of support from previous objectors was given late Thursday.
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Read MorePrime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday testified it “wasn’t appropriate” to expel MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) from the Liberal caucus though he was under security surveillance. Trudeau said he assumed it was up to Elections Canada to determine whether Dong had contacts with foreign agents.
“As Liberal Party leader I have on many, many different occasions had to ask people to step down,” Trudeau told the Commission on Foreign Interference. “In this case I didn’t feel there was sufficient or sufficiently credible information that would justify this very significant step as to remove a candidate in these circumstances,” he added.
Evidence shows Dong narrowly won a contested September 12, 2019 Liberal nomination race with support from Mandarin-speaking foreign students bused in from the New Oriental International College Academy in Markham, Ont., located outside the riding. Trudeau days later was told Dong was under surveillance by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
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Read MoreCabinet aides in a secret 2017 memo told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to avoid public criticism of China despite evidence Communist Party agents were committing crimes in Canada. Cabinet was attempting to negotiate a Chinese free trade pact at the time.
“The Canadian Security Intelligence Service describes Chinese foreign influence activities in Canada as sophisticated, pervasive and persistent,” said the June 29, 2017 Memorandum For The Prime Minister. “Although there are other countries conducting foreign influenced activities in Canada the People’s Republic of China is the most active.”
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Read MoreFederal election monitors were supposed to keep a lookout for Russian agents not Chinese, Government House Leader Karina Gould said yesterday. No Russian agents were ever found while cabinet received numerous warnings of illegal activities by the Communist Party of China.
“At the time in 2019 the primary focus was really on Russia,” Gould testified at the Commission on Foreign Interference. “Certainly Russia was something we were concerned about which is why we created this whole infrastructure to protect our elections,” she added.
“My job was to come up with a plan and a policy to try as best as possible to prevent foreign interference,” said Gould. “It doesn’t mean there weren’t ongoing attempts at foreign interference.”
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Read MoreThe China inquiry tomorrow meets in special session over a censored, top secret memo proving the Prime Minister’s Office was warned of illegal activities by Chinese agents. Federal lawyers did not disclose the document until late last Sunday evening after crucial witnesses had already testified.
“What is the nature of these documents?” asked Sarah Teich, counsel for the Human Rights Coalition. “Are these briefings? Were these notes?”
The February 21, 2023 memo by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service indicates the Prime Minister’s Office that day was told of unlawful election interference by the Chinese Communist Party in Canada. Illegal activities were an “existential threat to Canadian democracy,” it said. The Prime Minister at the time denied he was ever told of felonies involving foreign agents.
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Read MorePrime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office in 2019 was told MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) was under security surveillance but kept him in the Liberal caucus, records show. Trudeau’s chief of staff in 2023 had denied the subject was ever raised.
“It was alleged the People’s Republic of China interfered in the Don Valley North Liberal nomination of September 12, 2019,” said a top secret National Security Brief memo dated October 1, 2019. “The allegations are consistent with our current understanding of People’s Republic of China foreign interference activity in the Greater Toronto Area.”
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Read MorePrime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office in 2023 was given explicit warning of illegal conduct by Chinese agents that posed an “existential threat to Canadian democracy,” the China inquiry disclosed yesterday. Trudeau had denied he was ever told foreign agents breached the Elections Act.
“It truly is a remarkable document,” said Gib van Ert, counsel for Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, Ont.). The censored six-page memo marked “top secret” detailed the scope of Chinese subterfuge targeting the Conservative Party in 2019 and 2021 general elections.
The memo Briefing To The Prime Minister’s Office On Foreign Interference Threats To Canada’s Democratic Institutions was written by the Security and Intelligence Service. It is dated February 21, 2023.
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Read MoreCabinet had to follow “due process” before firing suspected Chinese spies working at the National Microbiology Laboratory, says Health Minister Mark Holland. Scientists with links to the People’s Liberation Army came under surveillance in August 2018 but remained on the job until July 2019.
“We have due process,” Holland testified at the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations. The scientists at the Winnipeg lab “were seen as being leaders in helping to save lives,” he said.
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