Internet Policy > Keep Canada Protected

Keep Canada Protected

The government claims Bill C-22’s lawful access powers will help stop crime, but ‘just trust us’ isn’t enough to keep Canada safe online. Security doesn’t fail because people are malicious; it fails because people are human. Creating backdoors to private communications and information gives a key to anyone who wants access, putting people, the economy, and national security at risk on and offline. A single slip-up can compromise everything.

Send a letter to your MP and ask them to reject Bill C-22.

We need more tools to protect ourselves online, not less.

As a person in your Riding, I am urging you to stop Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access, from becoming law. Bill C-22 threatens the safety, livelihoods, and national security of all Canadians. Bill C-22 lawful access powers will gift criminals, foreign adversaries, and AI companies with backdoor access to our private communications and personal information. If Bill C-22 passes, the result would be a disaster for you, me, our families, your constituents, and all Canadians. 

Here’s what Bill C-22 would mean for me: 

  • Bill C-22 would make my communications with family and loved ones less private and secure. Cybersecurity experts agree that Bill C-22 would let the government force companies to undermine the security and privacy of their services to provide law enforcement with access to our most private information. This makes everything we do online, like sharing private family photos, online banking, and telemedicine, more vulnerable to AI companies, and to cybercriminals and foreign threats looking to use our information for harm – including the same crimes the Government claims to want to prevent. 
  • Bill C-22 will disarm Canada’s digital economy and make life more expensive for everyone. Forcing digital services to weaken security and build surveillance systems will make Canada a hotbed for cyber incidents and Canadian consumers will shoulder the harm and the cost. Statistics Canada says Canadian businesses spent $1.2 billion on cyber incident recovery in 2023. Bill C-22 would make that sum even higher. Any law that can secretly require the providers of the services we use daily to add new functions solely for the purpose of enabling surveillance will only serve to undermine the trust that Canadians have without any real benefit. Bill C-22 will force businesses to choose between weakening security and operating in a distrusted tech sector or withdrawing from Canada altogether.  As the tech sector currently employs 2.2 million Canadians, the economic consequences of this disruption would be large. 
  • Bill C-22 will weaken national security when we need it most. Gifting criminals and foreign adversaries backdoors into our personal lives and critical systems undermines Canada’s efforts to improve national security amid geopolitical uncertainty. Forcing online services to poke holes into our strongest digital security shields against foreign interference threatens democratic processes like elections, jeopardizes the safety of government officials, and puts national security at risk.  

‘Just trust us’ is not good enough when it comes to keeping Canadians safe online. Security researchers and other technical experts have consistently said there is no such thing as encryption backdoors only ‘good guys’ can walk through. It only takes one slip-up for the wrong people to get in. The best solution is no backdoors at all. During dangerous times, we need more tools to protect ourselves online, not less. Tools like strong encryption help every Canadian protect what matters most to them on and offline.

As my Member of Parliament, please listen to the security experts and reject Bill C-22.