Thursday, February 05, 2004

Canada May Rethink Its "Security of Information" Law   Like the US, Canada has a post-9/11 law limiting civil liberties. Outrage exploded Jan. 21, 2004, when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police invoked that law when they raided and searched offices of  the Ottawa Citizen and the home of reporter Juliet O'Neill. The Mounties were seeking notes that might reveal the identity of a source O'Neill refused to disclose. She had been writing stories embarrassing to the government about the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was deported by the US to Syria on suspicion of terrorist activity. Now the government of Prime Minister Paul Martin has agreed to a parliamentary review of that law, the Security of Information Act. Canadian journalists have argued that the law infringes on press freedom and the public's right to know. 3:29:39 PM