Given a choice between trusting the "soft-on-terror" Liberals and the "crack-down-on-crime" Conservatives, I go with the softies every time.OTTAWA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Canada's Parliament scrapped two contentious anti-terror measures on Tuesday, angering the minority Conservative government, which accuses opposition legislators of being soft on terror.
The House of Commons voted 159-124 not to renew the provisions -- which expire on March 1 -- on the grounds that they had never been used.
One provision allows police to arrest people suspected of planning an imminent terrorist attack and hold them for three days without charge. The other provides for investigative hearings in which a judge can compel witnesses to testify about alleged terrorist activities.
The measures were introduced by the then-Liberal government after the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide attacks on the United States. In a bid to allay fears over human rights, Ottawa agreed the provisions would expire after five years.
The Conservative government controls just 125 of the 308 seats in the House and did not have the votes to extend the measures.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose Conservatives won power in January 2006 on a platform that promised to crack down on crime, says the Liberals of Stephane Dion are soft on terror and cannot be trusted to keep Canadians safe.
Canada Parliament scraps two anti-terror measures
No comments:
Post a Comment