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."


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