Feb 19, 2015, 10:19 am
As Techdirt has been warning for some time, one of the dangers with the flood of "anti-terrorist" laws and powers is that they are easily redirected against other groups for very different purposes. A story in the Globe and Mail provides another chilling reminder of how that works:
As the Globe and Mail article makes clear, environmentalists are now being considered as part of an "anti-petroleum" movement. That's not just some irrelevant rebranding: it means that new legislation supposedly targeting "terrorism" can be applied.
Clearly, that's an incredibly broad definition, and would apply to just about any environmental or social movement -- especially since even the most peaceful protests are often considered "illegal." That, in its turn would allow Canada's security agencies to collect information on these groups, and "disrupt" them. What's also troubling about the leaked RCMP "intelligence assessment" that forms the source for the Globe and Mail story is the very clear political position it seems to be taking on fossil fuels and climate change:
That sounds more like something that would come from the oil and gas industries' marketing departments, rather than from a country's impartial police force. However, as Techdirt has reported before, the current Canadian government has been muzzling other groups that dare to disagree with its policies, especially on climate change, for some time. Redefining environmentalists as anti-petroleum extremists is clearly part of the same repressive approach.
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Quote:The RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] has labelled the "anti-petroleum" movement as a growing and violent threat to Canada's security, raising fears among environmentalists that they face increased surveillance, and possibly worse, under the Harper government's new terrorism legislation.
As the Globe and Mail article makes clear, environmentalists are now being considered as part of an "anti-petroleum" movement. That's not just some irrelevant rebranding: it means that new legislation supposedly targeting "terrorism" can be applied.
Quote:The legislation identifies "activity that undermines the security of Canada" as anything that interferes with the economic or financial stability of Canada or with the country's critical infrastructure, though it excludes lawful protest or dissent. And it allows the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service to take measures to reduce what it perceives to be threats to the security of Canada.
Clearly, that's an incredibly broad definition, and would apply to just about any environmental or social movement -- especially since even the most peaceful protests are often considered "illegal." That, in its turn would allow Canada's security agencies to collect information on these groups, and "disrupt" them. What's also troubling about the leaked RCMP "intelligence assessment" that forms the source for the Globe and Mail story is the very clear political position it seems to be taking on fossil fuels and climate change:
Quote:The report extolls the value of the oil and gas sector to the Canadian economy, and adds that many environmentalists "claim" that climate change is the most serious global environmental threat, and "claim" it is a direct consequence of human activity and is "reportedly" linked to the use of fossil fuels.
That sounds more like something that would come from the oil and gas industries' marketing departments, rather than from a country's impartial police force. However, as Techdirt has reported before, the current Canadian government has been muzzling other groups that dare to disagree with its policies, especially on climate change, for some time. Redefining environmentalists as anti-petroleum extremists is clearly part of the same repressive approach.
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