The Canadian ''Anti-terrorism Act'' (french: Loi antiterroriste) (the ''Act'') was passed by the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, ...

in response to the

September 11, 2001, attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on December 18, 2001, as Bill C-36. The "

omnibus bill An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers a number of diverse or unrelated topics. ''Omnibus'' is derived from Latin and means "to, for, by, with or from everything". An omnibus bill is a single document that is accepted in a single vote by a ...

" extended the powers of government and institutions within the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

security establishment to respond to the threat of terrorism. The expanded powers were highly controversial due to widely perceived incompatibility with the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part ...

, in particular for the Act's provisions allowing for 'secret' trials, preemptive detention and expansive security and surveillance powers.

Civic opposition

The ''Acts passage has been compared to the government's activation of the ''

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (french: Loi sur les mesures de guerre; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could t ...

'' in accordance to

terrorist activity Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

by the FLQ. It was opposed by Parliamentarians

Marjory LeBreton Marjory LeBreton (born July 4, 1940) is a Canadian former leader of the Government in the Senate of Canada, a cabinet-rank position; and past national chair of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Canada. She worked with four leaders of the Progres ...

and

Andrew Telegdi Andrew Peter Telegdi, PC (born András Telegdi; May 28, 1946 – January 23, 2017) was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2008, representing Waterloo and the successor ri ...

, and criminal defense lawyer David Paciocco, amongst others. Ziyad Mia, of the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Muslim Lawyers Association, "questioned whether the definition of terrorist activity would apply to a group that resisted, by acts of violence, the regimes of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

," and pointed out that it criminalized the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

and

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

Prosecutions

In January 2010,

Zakaria Amara Zakaria Amara is one of 17 people detained on June 2 and 3, 2006, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He was convicted for planning to launch terrorist attacks against targets in Southern Ontario and was believed to ...

, from

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

, a suspect in the

2006 Toronto terrorism case The 2006 Ontario terrorism case refers to the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adul ...

, was sentenced to imprisonment for life. This sentence was the stiffest given so far under the Act.

Saad Gaya Among the 18 arrests during the 2006 Toronto terrorism case were four youths whose names could not be published because of the provisions of Canada's ''Youth Criminal Justice Act''. One of them had the charges against him dropped nine months after ...

from Oakville, a fellow suspect in the same case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

''Combating Terrorism Act'' (2013)

Some of the bill's provisions were set to expire on March 1, 2007. The

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada *Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Illi ...

government urged that these be renewed, while all three opposition parties were opposed. Specifically, the provisions had to do with preventative arrest and investigative hearings. On February 28, 2007, the House of Commons voted 159–124 against renewing the provisions, which later led to their expiry, as originally planned in the

sunset clause In public policy, a sunset provision or sunset clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law ...

. In 2012, the Government of Canada introduced in the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the ...

Bill S-7, the ''

Combating Terrorism Act The ''Combating Terrorism Act'' (the ''Act'') is an Act of the Parliament of Canada that renewed some provisions to the Criminal Code that had expired under a sunset clause for a new five-year term, and to introduce new crimes for leaving Canada t ...

'', which was to renew the expired provisions for a new five-year term, and introduced new crimes for leaving Canada to join or train with a terror group. The bill also increased the maximum prison sentences for some offences related to harbouring suspected terrorists. On April 19, just after the

Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing was a domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Two terrorists, brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, w ...

, the government rearranged the Parliamentary agenda to fast-track Bill S-7 to a vote on April 22 or 23, 2013.yahoo.com: "Harper government to fast track anti-terrorism bill"
19 Apr 2013 The ''Act'' received royal assent on April 25, 2013.

References

{{reflist

External links

Designated terrorist groups
2001 in Canadian law Canadian federal legislation Terrorism laws in Canada Omnibus legislation

Civic opposition

Prosecutions

''Combating Terrorism Act'' (2013)

See also

References

External links