In the wake of the 9/1 terrorist attacks, anti-terrorism legislation has proven to have far reaching implications for the way the western world has come to understand the relationship between society and the law. Indeed, as the focal point of this course, the relationship between society and the law has come to be understood as one of many tensions and contradictions. What has become clear thus far is the notion that the relationship between the two is one of adaptability and fluid change, where as one evolves the need for change in the other becomes evident. In this context, the antiterrorism laws that have been enacted in this country since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have in theory been implemented in response to the changing needs of our society. Certainly, the adoption of Bill C-36 was a reaction by the federal government to the realities of security and terrorism in this country. This being said, there are many issues and themes that can be addressed in a discourse of anti-terrorism legislation.
Accordingly, in this research assignment I intend to look more closely at the effects that this Bill C-36, in addition to other Canadian anti-terrorism initiatives, have had on border and national security issues. This is clearly important because in examining the literature on the topic, it can be said that Canada has adopted an approach of dealing with security issues that is more for show than anything else.
[...] Public Opinion The final category I examined in researching the issue of Bill C-36 and Border Security was public opinion. My decision to examine this category stems from the fact there has been a great deal of media attention on the subject and accordingly I wanted to see what the average Canadian thought of the situation. I began by trying a Google search of (public opinion AND Bill C-36) just to see what turned up. In doing so, I was surprised to find a whole host of chat forums and blogs discussing the issue. [...]
[...] Inevitably, it would seem the Canadian government has committed itself financially to combating terrorism and securing our border as a consequence to the ratification of Bill C-36. As much of the useful information I found through doing a database search linked to the department of justice website, I decided to shift the focus of my database search to examine exclusively those hits that were found in the Department of Justice's database. Search of Legal Literature Justice Department Found under the URL: www.justice.gc.ca, the departments search database has an interesting feature that allows you to search under “statutes and regulations”. [...]
[...] As it was modified in November of last year, the publication has contemporary relevance to our examination of Bill C-36 and its implications for protecting the Canada border. Contained in the document are pages upon pages of jargon, cautioning us rather warning us, of the imminent danger extremists pose to our national security and how the Canadian government has taken measure necessary to our security and collective interests A Department of Justice Publication entitled Public Views on the Anti-Terrorism Act. [...]
[...] Accordingly, we now turn to the world of Academia to see if Canadian scholars and intellectuals have been any more successful at uncovering the relationship between Bill C-36 and issues of domestic and foreign security from the Canadian perspective. Search of Academic Literature DB Weldon Library Catalogue A rather obvious starting point under this category was to look under the library catalogue to see what hits I was able to conjure up. As I began only looking at printed sources, I decided that it would be beneficial to understand the overall picture of anti-terrorism legislation in Canada since 9/11. [...]
[...] The results of this inquiry were far more promising as I not only obtained information on Bill C-36, but also its contemporary relevance to border security and a number of entries from this year relating to the issue. One particularly noteworthy result was an article published in the Canadian history magazine - The Walrus, in which author Tom Fennell examines whether the panic after 9/11 and Canada's decision to enact anti-terrorism legislation curtailed civil liberties in favor of national security? [...]
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