The launch of Bill C-30, the online surveillance legislation dubbed the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act, went about as expected with the government taken to task with big brother imagery (“Say Hello to Big Brother Government“) and criticism over the lack of evidence (“Conservatives hew to common sense save for bizarre crime fixation“), the security threats (“Online surveillance bill will be ‘a gold mine’ for hackers: Ontario privacy commissioner“), and the absence of a thoughtful digital vision (“Canada’s embarrassing failure on lawful access legislation“). The divisive comments from Public Safety Minister Vic Toews seemed to shape much of the dialogue, serving to ratchet up the rhetoric and overshadow both the modest changes to the bill and the legitimate remaining concerns of many Canadians.

I did a large number of interviews with print, radio (the As It Happens interview covers many of the concerns), and television (CBC, CTV, and Global) and was left wondering whether there is a compromise to be had in an environment where the Conservative majority government can obviously pass the bill but only at a significant political cost given public opinion. I may be naive, but I think it is possible.

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