Canadian Government

Review of Legislation

In the span of 1 year, 4 months, 10 days, Mark Carney and the Liberal Party have rammed through an extremely large number of bills. These bills violate the constitutional, civil, charter, constitutional, indigenous, human, asylum and immigrant rights.

 

Bill C-2: An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of the border between Canada and the United States and respecting other related security measures, Current status: At second reading in the House of Commons;

Bill C-5: The One Canadian Economy Act, Current status: Royal Assent: June 26, 2025;

  • Expedites infrastructure and resource extraction projects
  • Opens the door and directly enables tactical units like the C-IRG (now rebranded as the Critical Response Unit-BC / CRU-BC) to operate and suppress public protests;
  • Grants Henry VIII laws;
  • Allows the federal cabinet to bypass standard environmental regulations & Indigenous consultation processes;
  • Removes Indigenous Consent (Contrary to UNDRIP);
  • Weakens Environmental Oversight;
  • Greenlit Projects deemed to be in “National interest” faces public opposition, it automatically triggers oversight by specialized bodies like the Civil Disobedience/Public Order Committee.

Bill C-8: The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, Current status: Royal Assent: June 2026; 

Bill C-8 concentrates excessive, unchecked power within the federal cabinet; 
There is a lack  of mandatory judicial warrants or independent oversight for confidential ministerial orders;
It compromises digital privacy rights and procedural transparency.

Bill C-8 fits directly into the accelerated wave of federal reforms, acting as a powerful mechanism to harden national critical infrastructure against digital threats while drawing sharp criticism for expanding executive overreach without judicial safeguards.

Bill C-9: The Combatting Hate Act, Current status: Royal Assent: June 18, 2026;

  • Criminalizes the obstruction or intimidation of people trying to access schools, community centers, and places of worship;
  • definitions of hate-motivated crimes were overly broad and threatened protected religious freedoms and free speech.
  • broadly defined terms like “obstruction” or “interference” risked over-criminalizing or chilling constitutionally protected public protest, and debated whether modifications to statutory definitions might infringe upon freedom of expression and religious teaching
  • explicitly criminalizes the physical obstruction or intimidation of individuals attempting to access places of worship, schools, community centres, and cultural spaces. It also establishes a stand-alone hate crime offence and bans the public display of symbols associated with listed terrorist entities, specific Nazi symbols, and nooses with the intent to promote hatred.

Bill C-12: (formerly C-2) The Border Security Act, Current status: March 26, 2026;

Bill C-14: Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, Current status: Royal Assent Monday: June 15, 2026;

Bill C-15: The Budget 2025 Implementation Act, Current status, Royal Assent: March 26, 2026;

Bill C-16: The Protecting Victims Act, Current status: Royal Assent: June 18, 2026;

Bill C-22: The Lawful Access Act, Current status: at theThird Reading at the House of Commons;

Bill C-30: Pest Control Products Act, Current status: Royal Assent: June 18, 2026

Bill C-34: Safe Social Media Act, Current status: First Reading at the House of Commons;

Bill C-36: Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act, Current status: First Reading at the House of Commons;

Bill C-37: First Nations Clean Water Act (2026), Current status: at second reading at the House of Commons;

“Six New Crime Laws”

  • Bill C-14: The Bail and Sentencing Reform Act; 
  • Enacts over 80 changes to the Criminal Code, introducing strict “reverse onus” bail provisions;
  • for offenses like violent auto theft, human trafficking, and home invasions;
  • It it violates the presumption of innocence;
  • Directly fuels systemic over-incarceration of marginalized populations. 
  • Directly fuels systemic over-incarceration of marginalized populations. 

Bill C-2:

Bill C:5 The One Canadian Economy Act

  • Expedites infrastructure and resource extraction projects
  • Opens the door and directly enables tactical units like the C-IRG (now rebranded as the Critical Response Unit-BC / CRU-BC) to operate and suppress public protests;
  • Grants Henry VIII laws;
  • Allows the federal cabinet to bypass standard environmental regulations & Indigenous consultation processes;
  • Removes Indigenous Consent (Contrary to UNDRIP);
  • Weakens Environmental Oversight;
  • Greenlit Projects deemed to be in “National interest” faces public opposition, it automatically triggers oversight by specialized bodies like the Civil Disobedience/Public Order Committee.

Bill C-8: The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act: Received Royal Assent in June 2026

  • Concentrates excessive, unchecked power within the federal cabinet; 
  • Absence of mandatory judicial warrants or independent oversight for confidential ministerial orders;
  • It compromises digital privacy rights and procedural transparency.

Bill C-8 fits directly into the accelerated wave of federal reforms, acting as a powerful mechanism to harden national critical infrastructure against digital threats while drawing sharp criticism for expanding executive overreach without judicial safeguards.

Bill C-9: The Combatting Hate Act: Received Royal Assent on June 18, 2026

  • Criminalizes the obstruction or intimidation of people trying to access schools, community centers, and places of worship;
  • definitions of hate-motivated crimes were overly broad and threatened protected religious freedoms and free speech.
  • broadly defined terms like “obstruction” or “interference” risked over-criminalizing or chilling constitutionally protected public protest, and debated whether modifications to statutory definitions might infringe upon freedom of expression and religious teaching
  • explicitly criminalizes the physical obstruction or intimidation of individuals attempting to access places of worship, schools, community centres, and cultural spaces. It also establishes a stand-alone hate crime offence and bans the public display of symbols associated with listed terrorist entities, specific Nazi symbols, and nooses with the intent to promote hatred.

Bill C-12 (formerly C-2) The Border Security Act

Bill C-14 

Bill C-15 The Budget 2025 Implementation Act: Repealed on March 26, 2026

  • This eliminated the 3% levy on large multinational tech companies & mandated retroactive refunds; 
  • Dropped the tax under pressure from the U.S. government, which argued the levy unfairly targeted American firms;
  • tax applied to companies with a global revenue of over EUR 750 million and Canadian digital services revenue exceeding CAD 20 million;
  • Retroactive to June 20, 2024;
  • Anti-democratic power grab;
  • Eliminated the 3% levy on large multinational tech companies and mandated retroactive refunds. Canada dropped the tax under pressure from the U.S. government, which argued the levy unfairly targeted US firms;
  • Henry VIII” Corporate Exemption Clause;
  • Ministerial power to exempt specific corporations or individuals from almost any federal law (such as environmental, labor, or digital regulations, not criminal code) for up to six years if deemed in the “public interest”;
  • Bypasses regulatory safeguards;
  • Removed vital public and parliamentary accountability, threatening the rights of future generations & First Nations traditional governance by paving the way for corporate environmental bypasses. 
  • Repealed Canada’s Digital Services Tax – far from digital sovereignty;
  • Triggers Public Order Committees: Greenlit Projects deemed to be in “National interest” & faces public opposition, it automatically triggers oversight by specialized bodies like the Civil Disobedience/Public Order Committee.

Bill C-16: The Protecting Victims Act & the Digital-Policy Landscape

  • Legal associations (eg. the Canadian Bar Association) raised concerns regarding provisions touching on compressed notice periods for evidence disclosure;
  • The risk of overburdening court dockets despite procedural streamlining; and 
  • Concern about the re-implementation of blanket mandatory minimum sentences historically struck down or challenged under the Charter;
  • The CCLA strongly opposes Bill C-16, arguing that it crosses a constitutional red line by attempting to legislatively overrule Supreme Court precedent on trial delays and violating Charter rights.

Bill C-22 The Lawful Access Act: Retroactive to June 20, 2024;

  • Establishes a mass surveillance regime by forcing digital platforms, messaging apps, and telecom companies to log and retain a full year of users’ location and interaction metadata;
  • Opens the door to install a backdoor on electronic devices;
  • Weakening of warrant criteria from to suspect to believe;
  • Provides the gov’t with sweeping powers to surveil Canadians;
  • Allows the gov’t to force electronic service providers to update, modify, or build interception & monitoring capabilities into their networks;
  • Forces electronic service providers to retain metadata related to private communications for up to a year.for up to a year;
  • lowers the legal standard from “reason to believe” to “reason to suspect”.

Bill C-30 (Pesticide Regulations): 

  • Bill C-30 is a federal omnibus economic legislation.
  • It amends Canada’s Pest Control Products Act (PCPA);
  • It grants Cabinet the power to override scientific findings by Health Canada;
  • It authorizes the use of banned or restricted pesticides on the grounds of national or regional economic and food security.

Buried within this economic legislation are sweeping overhauls to the Pest Control Products Act. The new law grants the federal cabinet the authority to greenlight and authorize the use of banned or unsafe pesticides if they deem it necessary for economic or national food security.

Bills 34 & 36: AI Strategy Bills: Tabled by Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon

  • They contain vague regulatory language that gives the state unprecedented authority to police internet media under the guise of user safety. 
  • Tabled by Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon

Bill C-34 Safe Social Media Act

This bill initially creates the entity under the name The Digital Safety Commission of Canada. Its original mandate under C-34 is strictly focused on enforcing online harms legislation, managing the under-16 social media ban, and overseeing AI chatbot guidelines.

Bill C-36 Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act 

Bill C-36 effectively strips the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada—an independent agent of Parliament—of its decades-long oversight over private-sector data:

  • Weakening of warrant criteria from to suspect to believe.

Bill C-37: An Act respecting water, source water, drinking water, wastewater and related infrastructure on First Nation lands.

Bill C-37 removes explicit previous wording affirming safe drinking water as a direct human right, replacing it with a weaker policy statement targeting the “progressive realization” of that right—a move cynically viewed as an attempt to limit federal legal liability in ongoing court battles.

The bill restricts First Nations water jurisdiction strictly to reserve lands, ignoring risks from upstream industrial pollution and failing to cover traditional territories or unceded Aboriginal title land