Re Tories Have Yet To Prove Case For E-Snooping Bill (online, Dec. 1): Technology is a critical aspect of the way Canadians do business and communicate with each other. But as technology advances, criminal activities become easier. The government will propose legislation that strikes an appropriate balance between the privacy rights of Canadians and the ability of police to enforce our laws.
We will allow police to access “phone book”-type information from Internet service providers. If it becomes necessary to find a suspect's name, address, phone number or other similar identifier, ISPs will be required to disclose that information. ISPs will be required to have the capacity to allow police to investigate – strictly with a warrant – all communication methods.
Let me be clear: No legislation proposed will create powers for police to read e-mails without a warrant. Our proposed approach of linking an Internet address to subscriber information is on par with a phone book linking phone numbers to a residential address.
Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, Ottawa
The spirit of RIDE
Thank you for your editorial Justice Impaired Is Justice Denied (Dec. 2). The abuse of individual rights under the guise of enhanced alcohol enforcement is reaching epidemic levels.
Last Saturday afternoon, in rural eastern Ontario, I was stopped in a RIDE spot check. After ascertaining that I'd had nothing to drink, the officer asked me where I was coming from – and I told him. I'd been at the Mohawk Plaza on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, buying cigarettes.
The officer told me to give him the cigarettes, which I did. He inspected each of the four cartons, and seemed disappointed when he agreed they were all “banded” (federal taxes paid). He then returned them to me.
The fact that I was randomly stopped in a RIDE spot check (approved by the Supreme Court), then searched for possible contraband strikes me as an abuse of the spirit and intent of the RIDE program.
Malcolm Elston, Lonsdale, Ont.
Supply dirge
Jeffrey Simpson's call for an end to Canada's orderly marketing system as a loss-leader promotion to be tossed into current free-trade talks would trigger a depopulation dirge for a vanishing rural Canada complete with organ music courtesy of agri-business giants waiting in the wings (It Hurts Dancing To Supply Management's Tune – Dec. 2).
How well has the family farm done since the implementation of the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement? Market forces unleashed over the past two decades have resulted in the loss of some 80,000 farms.
Given the upheaval in global markets, Mr. Simpson could have made the point that, for the year following the 2008 crisis, the U.S. had to pump $1-billion into their (deregulated) dairy farm sector just to keep it afloat, while Canada spent not a penny, thanks to the existence of supply management. You can bet that if and when Canada ends orderly marketing, foreign agri-business giants will end up orchestrating a higher priced melody.
Rick Arnold, Roseneath, Ont.
