C-51: Justin Trudeau Plans Legal Overhaul - Film
Video project viewed over 200,000 times on Youtube and Facebook Vancouver, BC - As the new Liberal government plans a “swift overhaul” of the controversial “Anti-terrorism
Act” (bill C-51), a group of comedians are testing the limits of
the new law. An hour long documentary released by a team of
artists includes footage of people across Canada non-violently
interfering with “critical infrastructure”, an act which falls under C-51’s vague definition of
“terrorism”. The media project was released days before the
election as a one hour film on Youtube and a series of short films on
Facebook. The clips have since amassed a combined total of over
200,000 views. As reported by CBC News: “Under C-51, encouraging
or promoting others to carry out terrorist acts becomes its own
criminal offence under the Criminal Code.” The film does just that -
that is if blocking highways, railroads, pipeline infrastructure and
migrant detention facilities qualifies as “interference with critical
infrastructure;” This is not the first time the popular comedy outfit
has challenged the government’s new definition of “terrorism” (see Upworthy.com: “It's not easy to pull off jokes
about terrorism, but comedian Sean Devlin knows what he's doing.”) “The climate crisis is killing thousands of people around
the world and displacing millions more. Stopping the reckless
expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure is not an act of terrorism, it
is a moral necessity. The question is, does Justin Trudeau agree?”
said comedian Sean Devlin, the director of the film. Prime Minister Trudeau has taken swift action to end Canada’s participation in the bombing of ISIS
and has promised to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees by
January 1st, 2016. However, he has made no strong tangible commitments
to address the climate crisis, which is one of the root causes of the migrant
crisis. As a result Trudeau has been hounded by young climate protestors in recent
months, most recently over the revelation that his campaign co-chair Dan
Gagnier had been working for oil giant Transcanada. Gagnier
swiftly resigned. A talking point the new Prime Minister repeated often in
the lead up to his election was, “governments may be able to issue permits, but only
communities can grant permission.” Yet, Devlin says questions
remain, "In their overhaul of C-51 will the Trudeau government respect
the right of communities to non-violently refuse dangerous industrial
projects? Or will the Liberals make use of the new policing powers to
push through projects against public will."
Comments
There are 0 comments on this post