Rights and Freedoms

RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
Sheri Smith
March 17, 2016

If you’ve ever been a victim of online harassment, you will know how unsettling it can be. In some cases, the devastation can have grave repercussions, as evidenced by the numerous high profile teenaged suicides that have been linked directly to cyberbullying attacks in recent years. A year ago, legislation was enacted in Canada that will help to combat this kind of harassment, but the debate is still raging over whether the restrictions need to be tougher, and how the legislation could violate the privacy of Canadians by giving authorities easier access to our online information.

I find it difficult to stand firmly on one side of the fence on this, but I will say this much. I believe the safety and security of our citizens, of our children, is of utmost importance, but I have to wonder, once we start stomping on our basic right to privacy, how long it would take before we started rewriting the rulebook on things such as our right to freedom of speech, or our right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. What would become of our fundamental human rights, as dictated in the Charter?

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