Image Credit: Jordan Pettitt - PA Images / Contributor / Getty 
OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – The Canadian federal Liberal government now says after a public outcry it will rewrite portions of a bill that not only would permit police and government officials to open and examine Canadians’ personal mail but would also ban cash donations over $10,000.
Earlier this week, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree acknowledged significant shortfalls in Bill C-2, known as An Act Respecting Certain Measures Relating to the Security of the Border.
Anandasangaree said before Canada’s Senate national security committee, “We realize the consensus on what lawful access is, is not captured right now in C-2.”
He then said he had “talked to some civil rights experts” and that the bill would be amended.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, the bill has been blasted by Canada’s top constitutional experts as a “step towards tyranny” as it would impact Canadians’ charter rights as written.
As written, Bill C-2 lets police, without a warrant, conduct searches of telecom databases solely on “reasonable grounds to believe the computer data will afford evidence with respect to the commission of an offence.”
Bill C-2 was introduced on June 3 by Anandasangaree.
The legislation reads, “Part 11 amends the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to prohibit certain entities from accepting cash deposits from third parties and certain persons or entities from accepting cash payments, donations or deposits of $10,000 or more.”.
The bill will also permit police and government officials to open and examine Canadians’ personal mail.
Senator Katherine Hay told the national security committee she had been told by her constituents that they were alarmed by the bill, noting how it had “police state” qualities to it.
“The words used to me, very respectfully, were concerns around Canada becoming a ‘police state,’ and I’ll just quote that, and real concerns around privacy and rights,” she said.
She asked Anandasangaree directly, “What would you say to my constituent?”
He replied, “The area where someone may say this is about a police state is a notion I would really ask people to reflect on.”
“Maybe C-2 as written may not capture, I think, the true intent of what’s called lawful access.”
He then said, “My response to you would be, it is not an option not to have a lawful access regime in Canada,” adding, “It is a primary need for law enforcement.”
Despite promising changes to the bill, Anandasangaree said it could be fixed “in a manner that doesn’t appear to trample on individuals’ civil liberties.”
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has warned that buried deep within Bill C-2 are “provisions that would make it a criminal offence for businesses, professionals, and charities to accept cash payments of $10,000 or more in a single transaction or in a series of related transactions.”
“Restricting the use of cash is a dangerous step towards tyranny,” JCCF president John Carpay said.
Anandasangaree made no mention whether the cash donations’ part of the bill would be amended or removed.
The JCCF, as reported by LifeSiteNews, warned that Canada will be a “police state by Christmas” if lawmakers pass three new bills introduced by the federal Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney, Bill C-2, C-8, and C-9.
The Liberal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has gone after Canadians’ bank accounts before. In 2022, it froze the bank accounts of those who donated to the Freedom Convoy against COVID mandates.
As for Carney, he has globalist ties and was called the World Economic Forum’s “golden boy” by CPC leader Pierre Poilievre. Carney has also admitted he is an “elitist” and a “globalist.”
