Bill C-22 on Lawful Access (or I'll be Watching You)

​The Government of Canada can point to a remarkable achievement in unifying not only many Canadians, but people and organizations globally in opposition to surveillance and Lawful Access Bill C-22.

From human and digital rights defenders, legal and security experts, tech CEOs, industry bodies, cybersecurity companies, and many more, critics warn C-22 will hurt Canadians and Canadian companies, while undermining privacy for everyone.

​The U.S. House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees warned C-22 threatens US national security, while the European Union has warned it could undermines GDPR compliance and risks creating trade barriers for Canadian businesses working in the EU.

​Signal warned it would pull out of Canada, while Canadian VPN provider Windscribe threatened to relocate headquarters outside of Canada. Anther service provider NordVPN is considering leaving Canada. Meanwhile, Apple, Meta and many other tech companies have raised concerns about effects on encryption and cybersecurity.

​Even the bill’s own oversight body has reported that it does not have the access it needs for effective oversight.

​All of this begs the question - why is the government pursuing this bill again?

​For Episode #2 of Design for Integrity, we will be joined by OpenMedia's Matt Hatfield and Thompson Rivers University's Robert Diab on Wednesday May 20 at 3pm PT/ 6pm ET to discuss the long tail history of C-22, how its passage would impact Canadians and how different communities are responding to the vast array of risks for C-22. Hosted by Renee Black.