(Please forward this urgent action far and wide, post on websites, etc.)

Stop New Secret Trials Legislation in Canada!
Urgent Action Alert from the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada

(see below for three concrete actions that need to be taken--new
petition drive, Dec. 7 delegations to MPs, and call-in week for MPs)

Demand that Liberals, Bloc, and Tories NOT bring in new law to allow
for indefinite detention without charge, secret hearings without the
detainee or their lawyer present, draconian house arrest, and
deportation to torture.

QUICK BACKGROUND
In February of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that secret
trial security certificates were unconstitutional, but suspended the
effect of its decision until February 23, 2008, at which time those
subject to certificates can apply to have them quashed. Rather than
scrap these medieval processes (which have resulted in untold suffering
by those detained, their families, and the targetted community members
who live in fear of being next), the Harper government waited until
late October to introduce new legislation (Bill C-3) that, with one or
two exceptions, is almost identical to the legislation found
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The Tories have waited until this late date so they can create a false
sense of impending crisis and speed the bill through without any
substantial debate. They claim all heck will break loose unless a new
law is in place. As with security certificates, such outrageous claims
are based on fear and racism, and not on substantial evidence that can
be cross-examined in a public forum.

No one directly affected by the process -- those detained behind bars
or under house arrest, their family members, their community advocates,
nor their lawyers -- has been allowed to speak before the Public Safety
Committee, which will end an embarrassingly short period of
"discussion" this coming week (December 3-7) and move to finalize the
bill on December 6.

The government's proposed bill leaves in place a two-tiered system of
justice in which some people in Canada are denied the right to a fair
trial, even though their liberty and very lives may be at stake.

  It does not meet a single one of the demands of our lengthy public
campaign: like the old security certificate, the proposed draft
maintains a secret trial process, denying the detainee access to the
information used against them. It uses vague and undefined allegations
rather than precise charges, and relies on a low standard of proof
(possibility instead of fact). It permits the use of hearsay (gossip
and rumour). It fails to reject the use of information produced under
torture. It will continue the practice of indefinite detention without
charge under threat of deportation to torture.

Legal experts who have analyzed the bill have already said that it will
not even pass a constitutional test, raising the possibility of further
legal battles and constitutional challenges. If it succeeds, this move
on the part of the government will further entrench the use of secrecy
in the Canadian legal system by institutionalizing a model (the
"special advocate") which legitimizes secret information. It will help
to normalize racial profiling and indefinite detention or house arrest
for people who are deemed "suspect" by the scandal-plagued spy agency
CSIS. It will help normalize increased government control and
surveillance. It also  leaves the door open to deportation to torture.

Rather than try and "fix" or make "less severe" a fundamentally flawed
and unfair process, those working on this issue for years have been
very clear: the whole system should be scrapped and, if the government
has anything against those held on certificates, the individuals should
be charged, allowed access to the case against them, and given a fair
and open trial in court. As human beings, justice and even
international and Canadian law require that their fundamental rights to
life, liberty and security be treated with every bit as much respect as
the rights of those who happen to have Canadian citizenship.


TAKING ACTION--THREE STEPS FOR FOLKS IN CANADA, ONE STEP (SEE BOTTOM OF
THIS EMAIL) FOR FOLKS OUTSIDE OF CANADA

1. We are collecting signatures on petitions (In English and French)
and hope to have TENS OF THOUSANDS of names on them by February 15,
2008. Please download those petitions from
http://www.jerome.koumbit.org/adil/en/petition, take them with you
everywhere (schools, mosques, churches, union halls, community groups,
December holiday gatherings), and send them in to us once filled out
(They can be mailed to Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, PO Box
73620, 509 St. Clair Ave. West, Toronto, ON M6C 1C0)

2.  Join the day of action on 7 December: it's a day of community
delegations to Members of Parliament in their home ridings. Members of
Parliament must be held accountable! For more information or to join
in, email justiceforadil@riseup.net.

3. Contact MPs both this weekend and throughout the week of December
3-7.
In Parliament, only the NDP has shown principled opposition to the new
legislation. Only two Liberals, Andrew Telegdi and Colleen Beaumier,
stood up to oppose the bill at second reading, while other Liberals
(even those who have previously expressed rejection of secret trials)
were missing in action.
In the next week, we ask that you undertake two separate actions:
a. a massive call-in/email campaign needs to occur to demand that
"Public Safety" committee members (listed below) reject the new bill
and stop behaving in a manner that reflects that anti-democratic nature
of security certificates by shutting down debate.
b. please also call your own MP and demand that they take a stand and
vote against C-3. A list of MPs and how they voted (or whether they
were even in the House) is available at
www.jerome.koumbit.org/adil/en/node/219  (We have bolded names that we
feel are most important to contact, and contact often until they
confirm opposition to C-3!) If your MP is an NDP-er or one of the two
Liberals who have shown some backbone, please consider calling someone
else on the lengthy list of shame.

Garry Breitkreuz
Conservative: Yorkton—Melville, SK
Tel: (613) 992-4394
Fax: (613) 992-8676
Email: Breitkreuz.G@parl.gc.ca

Hon. Roy Cullen
Liberal: Etobicoke North, ON
Tel: (613) 995-4702
Fax: (613) 995-8359
Email: Cullen.R@parl.gc.ca

Penny Priddy
NDP: Surrey North, BC
Tel: (613) 992-2922
Fax: (613) 992-0252
Email: Priddy.P@parl.gc.ca

Hon. Sue Barnes
Liberal: London West, ON
Tel: (613) 996-6674
Fax: (613) 996-6772
Email: Barnes.S@parl.gc.ca

Bonnie Brown
Liberal: Oakville, ON
Tel: (613) 995-4014
Fax: (613) 992-0520
Email: Brown.B@parl.gc.ca

Gord Brown
Conservative: Leeds—Grenville, ON
Tel: (613) 992-8756
Fax: (613) 996-9171
Email: Brown.G@parl.gc.ca

Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh
Liberal: Vancouver South, BC
Tel: (613) 995-7052
Fax: (613) 995-2962
Email: Dosanjh.U@parl.gc.ca

Dave MacKenzie
Conservative: Oxford, ON
Tel: (613) 995-4432
Fax: (613) 995-4433
Email: MacKenzie.D@parl.gc.ca

Colin Mayes
Conservative: Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Tel: (613) 995-9095
Fax: (613) 992-3195
Email: Mayes.C@parl.gc.ca

Serge Ménard
Bloc Québécois: Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Tel: (613) 992-2617
Fax: (613) 992-6069
Email: Menard.S@parl.gc.ca

Rick Norlock
Conservative: Northumberland—Quinte West, ON
Tel: (613) 992-8585
Fax: (613) 995-7536
Email: Norlock.R@parl.gc.ca

Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac
Bloc Québécois: Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Tel: (613) 996-4585
Fax: (613) 992-1815
Email: ThiLac.E@parl.gc.ca

4. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OF CANADA
Please contact your nearest Canadian consulate or embassy and express
your outrage that the government is re-introducing the same secret
trials legislation already deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
of Canada. If you are told this is not within their portfolio, ask that
the message be passed on to Ottawa.


Thanks for your support, which was responsible for forcing this issue
at this country's highest court in June, 2006. Public pressure can turn
the tide again and prevent more needless years of suffering by those
unjustly targetted by CSIS in this country.

Campaign to Stop Secret trials in Canada, PO Box 73620, 509 St. Clair
Ave. West, Toronto, ON M6C 1C0, tasc@web.ca, (416) 651-5800,
www.homesnotbombs.ca (new website on the way!)