The troubling case of Mr. Driver

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/06/2015 (3929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If it’s bad now, it is going to get a whole lot worse.

Take for example, Aaron Driver. Is he a victim of thought crime, a dangerous terrorist sympathizer, or both? And if we’re upset with how he’s being treated now, be aware that Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act is going to make this type of treatment easier.

Some 8 days after Mr. Driver was arrested in his Charleswood home on the seemingly vague grounds he might support terrorism in some way, the facts still aren’t clear.

Here’s what we do know. He supports the genocidal group Islamic State. He defended the attacks on Parliament Hill and in Quebec last year as justifiable retaliation for the allied bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq.

It’s entirely possible the threat he allegedly poses begins and ends with his troubling opinions and his use of the Internet to express them. Do they pose a threat to Canadians or anyone else? Some people obviously think so.

The Winnipeg man may need a helping hand, but did it have to be the heavy hand of the law?

Mr. Driver was arrested and detained June 5 under a controversial section of the Criminal Code that allows the state to compel people to agree to certain conditions under what is known as a peace bond, or face 12 months in jail. There is no requirement for a criminal charge.

Sec. 810 of the code was originally intended as a means for the courts to issue preventive orders against domestic abusers and others who might commit certain offences, but it has since expanded to include organized crime and terrorism.

Many legal experts say the law is a disgraceful assault on the liberty and rights of citizens, who can be hauled before a judge on the grounds they might commit a crime in the future. It sounds remarkably similar to the movie Minority Report, where a future society arrests people whom it knows will break the law before the deed is done.

The law has been used against members of the Hells Angels, whom no one has much sympathy for anyway, and several terrorism-related cases similar to Mr. Driver’s.

He was released on bail last Friday in a secretive court hearing, presumably to give him time to contest the process or consider if he will abide by the conditions of a peace bond.

The bail conditions, however, seem remarkably stiff.

Among other things, he is required to take religious counselling, which sounds like a violation of all kinds of basic rights. Mr. Driver converted to Islam and this is obviously an attempt to correct the 23-year-old’s allegedly dangerous opinions on the nature of Islam, rather than to direct him back to Christianity.

Meanwhile, anyone upset with the way Mr. Driver’s freedom and rights have been curtailed — the time in custody plus an array of restrictions on his movement — will be a lot more concerned once the federal government’s new anti-terrorism legislation is enacted.

Bill C-51 will make it easier for RCMP to arrest and detain without charge suspected terrorists or sympathizers. It will also expand the length of time a suspect can be held in custody.

The law currently allows a judge to detain someone for 72 hours before imposing a peace bond. Mr. Driver was held longer because he refused to agree to the peace-bond process.

If he continues to refuse or isn’t successful in challenging it, he could be held in prison for 12 months.

The new law will allow the courts to hold a person for seven days, not just 72 hours.

More seriously, Bill C-51 does not include a sunset clause. That means the law might never be repealed, even if the threat of terrorism subsides and tough legal mechanisms are no longer needed to arrest and detain suspects.

Mr. Driver’s case should serve as a wake up call for how far the state should be allowed to go in the name of keeping us safe.