Add Quebec’s Separatists to the Groups That Think Bill C-51 Will Target Them

If there's an exploitable fear in Quebec right now, it's the looming threat of terrorism.

Both of the young men behind last year's domestic terror attacks―the hit-and-run in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and the Parliament Hill shooting―were born and raised in la belle province.

Quebec's linguistic and cultural ties with France also meant that the Charlie Hebdo massacre resonated much more loudly here than in the rest of Canada. Factor in a group of young students leaving the province to allegedly fight for ISIS (and a prime minister capitalizing on every single morsel of fear), and you have an electorate eager to embrace a brand-new anti-terror omnibus bill.

Last month, an Angus-Reid poll showed that nearly nine out of ten Quebecers were on board with Bill C-51.

So it's not surprising that Stephen Harper's Tories are gaining ground in Quebec, which means they could potentially catch up with the NDP and ride the terror train all the way to another majority government.

However, some pundits caution that his plan could backfire in the province, similar to the way ousted PQ leader Pauline Marois' foray into identity politics proved popular in the short term but ended up being a key factor in the demise of her party in last year's crazy elections.

But if Harper's political gamble works and he is able to capitalize on Quebecers' support for Bill C-51, Quebec might actually be in favour of legislation that would disproportionately target its citizens.

At least, that's what the Parti Québecois is saying. Last week, the sovereigntist party issued a press release decrying the bill's wide reach.

"Bill C-51 is a slippery slope in regards to the respect of Quebecois' rights and freedom," wrote MNA Alexandre Cloutier. "It challenges citizens' right to dissent and reaches way beyond its mandate, which is to fight against terrorist threat."

Cloutier added that if the bill were adopted, Quebecers could be flagged by CSIS or 16 other federal agencies simply because they're protesting against climate change or fighting for justice for aboriginal people, students, or workers.

Quebec is also home to the country's biggest student movement in recent history, a place where citizens take to the streets by the thousands to express discontent about anything from pension reform to budget cuts at Radio-Canada to blocking an oil terminal project by screaming bloody beluga murder.

Quebecers have a reputation for being outspoken and irreverent, and its media is definitely unforgiving when it comes to attacking politicians or public figures deemed incompetent. Public pressure recently led to the resignation of blunder-prone Education Minister Yves Bolduc, after he condoned the strip-search of a young female high-school student.

And, of course, there is the ever-present sovereignty movement. Cloutier believes that the province's separatist tendencies could give the federal government yet another reason to focus on Quebecers with Bill C-51, which clearly targets activities that undermine the country's sovereignty or territorial integrity. Needless to say, a movement that aims to secede an entire province from the rest of the country would fall under the scope of an activity that "undermines the sovereignty" or "territorial integrity" of Canada.

"The way it is currently written, the law broadens the notion [of an activity that undermines the security of Canada] to anything that undermines the sovereignty, security or territorial integrity of Canada," Cloutier wrote in the press release.

He interprets this as including any activity the government deems to be "interference with the capability of the Government of Canada in relation to […] the economic or financial stability of Canada," "changing or unduly influencing a government in Canada," and "interference with critical infrastructure."

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney has disputed these points and accused the PQ ministers of not reading the bill.

But prominent law professor Craig Forcese, who recently testified before the House Public Safety Committee on Bill C-51, says that the legislation would not move sovereignists into the definition of "terrorist activity," the PQ's take is not unfounded.

"(It) is true that the new information sharing regime allowing permissive information sharing within government (and potentially beyond) could reach [the] sovereignist movement, to the extent that [separatists] might engage in protests or advocacy that is not fully lawful," he told VICE in an email.

"Unlawful advocacy and protest would include wildcat strikes or street protests that do not comply fully with all regulatory, criminal, municipal, provincial or federal law," Forcese writes.

For human rights lawyer Julius Grey, this indiscriminate condemnation of dissent is exactly the issue.

"Disobedience is part of the way in which laws are changed in democracies, in socially just countries," he outlines. "When laws become an embarrassment, people start disobeying them.

"That's how laws get changed," he says, citing the civil rights movement and abortion as examples.

In terms of the specific impact on Quebec and the separatist movement, Grey says it could be an example of unintended consequence.

"I don't know if it would disproportionately affect Quebec, but it affects any place where there are protest movements," he says.

"Today, the law is clearly aimed at the Islamic movement, its target is not separatism," Grey added. "But you don't know how the law will be used in the future and it could certainly be used for that sort of thing."

So while it may be too early to tell whether or not Quebec could be singled out by anti-terror legislation, it is definitely strange to see Canada's "distinct society" seemingly at ease with or unaware of the far-reaching consequences that this bill could have on any of the numerous causes that Quebecers tend to take up when they get pissed off.

With files from Nick Rose.

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