This government’s utter ineptitude on the lawful access file would be farcical if it wasn’t so serious. After years of opposing it because it’s unconstitutional, the Liberals did an about-face and suddenly supported it once Carney took office, and they immediately insisted that this was crucial for law enforcement. Then they had to redraft the provisions into a separate bill because there was a tonne of pushback, tacitly admitting they got it wrong, but still would say in Question Period that the opposition should have helped them pass it months ago. You know, when it was flawed. Then the minister insisted that the pushback was “misinformed” and that they simply didn’t do a good enough job communicating around the bill, and had Public Safety’s media team aggressively trying to push journalists around if they didn’t publish the government’s line, and would send the RCMP and CSIS out to media to make the case for it, while they contradicted themselves along the way. (It’s not about expanded surveillance—but we need to ensure that they have the capability to have that surveillance when we say so!)
I lived in Romania shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was rumored that the Securitate could remotely activate the microphones of any phone to turn it into a listening device. That was chilling.
— David TS Fraser (@privacylawyer.ca) 2026-05-28T00:02:55.364Z
Under Bill C-22 Lawful Access, the Minister of Public Safety can secretly order every phone manufacturer to embed that same capability into the phone in your pocket. That's also chilling.
— David TS Fraser (@privacylawyer.ca) 2026-05-28T00:02:55.384Z
Would the current Minister do that? Don't know. Would a future Minister do that? Don't know. I know that the police currently get warrants to implant spyware on phones. They'd love to have that capability without a warrant, and would put pressure on the Minister to enable that.
— David TS Fraser (@privacylawyer.ca) 2026-05-28T00:02:55.406Z
And now after even more pushback, they’re saying they will be introducing amendments, again admitting that they still got it wrong—but again, still chiding the opposition that it should have been passed months ago. We’ll see what those amendments look like, but the minister is not exactly instilling confidence in what he’s proposing. I worry that they plan to use their majority to bully this through regardless, but after so many admissions that they keep getting this wrong, I have zero confidence that this won’t blow up in everyone’s faces, and eventually be struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada because they ignored all of the warnings.
Meanwhile, at the moment when the Minister should be most familiar with the details of his Bill, he flubs up something pretty basic and important.
— David TS Fraser (@privacylawyer.ca) 2026-05-27T23:25:37.244Z
My Latest:
Ukraine Dispatch:
Russia claims it captured two more villages in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions, respectively, but Ukraine denies this. Ukraine’s senior military leaders say that they are reaching a turning point in the war, which certain outside observers have also been saying over the past couple of weeks.
Noteworthy:
- Philippe Lagassé remarks on the decision to go with the SAAB Global Eye platform instead of an American platform, and what that signals.
- Justing Ling tallies the receipts from Danielle Smith’s long history with Alberta separatists, and the crackpot beliefs she has advocated as part of that.
Mark Carney’s Chief of Staff Explains How Rich The Environment Will Make Himyoutu.be/2yGvijKA2QM
— Clare Blackwood (@clareblackwood.bsky.social) 2026-05-27T17:57:06.594Z
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