Among those criticizing the new law are the BC and Canadian Civil Liberties Associations, the Canadian Association of University Teachers, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, Amnesty International, the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council and Independent Jewish Voices Canada.

In a joint statement, they say C-70 “will likely have significant impacts — both directly and in the form of a chilling effect — on freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and on privacy, and it could well be used to profile people on political, racial, religious, or nationality grounds. The law will allow the undermining of academic freedom, freedom of the press, the right to protest and engage in dissent, and efforts at international cooperation and solidarity.”

CSIS has parroted US intelligence agencies allegations regarding China for the past five years, refusing to heed warnings about threat exaggeration from US senator Bernie Sanders, economist Jeffrey Sachs, or Congresswoman Judy Chu.

Mainstream media unfortunately have been hammering the theme of foreign interference. For example, the Globe and Mail has been campaigning for a foreign influence registry for over a year. Likewise, its reporters have unabashedly used CSIS leaks to engage in sensationalist reporting, failing to verify CSIS information. This has created a political maelstrom to the benefit of CSIS.