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OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has rejected a Conservative call to hive off the most controversial section of a bill to help police and spies into a separate piece of legislation.
The Liberals are very comfortable with the balance between the two sections of Bill C-22, known as the “lawful access” bill, Anandasangaree said Wednesday.
“It goes together and we’re not prepared to split that bill,” he told reporters.
The first section would allow authorities to demand that a telecommunications provider such as Bell or Telus reveal whether it provides service to an individual or a number of interest — a measure intended to speed up investigations.
The second part would require electronic service providers to develop and maintain the technical capabilities to enable police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to effectively obtain communications and information for investigations.
That section has drawn steadfast opposition from big tech companies and organizations that fight for privacy rights and civil liberties.
Meta, the company behind Facebook, says the provisions could require firms to build or maintain capabilities that break or weaken encryption, or force providers to install government spyware directly on their systems.
The company says the bill purports to protect against risks to encryption by allowing providers to challenge demands that would introduce a “systemic vulnerability,” but the definition of such a vulnerability is unclear.
The bill would allow for regulations requiring electronic service providers to retain metadata — digital traces of a communication, though not the email or text itself — for up to one year. Critics have questioned the need to keep such information, which can reveal a person’s movements and location.
The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said this week the second part of the bill should be withdrawn because it’s fundamentally flawed in ways that are difficult to address in the committee process.
Conservative MP Frank Caputo said Wednesday it makes sense to simply proceed with the first, less contentious part of the bill.
Anandasangaree accused the Conservatives of engaging in “stalling tactics” to derail or delay the legislation.
The minister has said the government will bring forward amendments to the bill, including clarification stating that companies would not have to break encryption by inserting back doors into their products.
Members of the House of Commons public safety committee are set to begin clause-by-clause consideration of the bill Thursday.
The National Police Federation, which represents thousands of RCMP members, the Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police jointly called Wednesday on parliamentarians to pass the bill without delay to ensure court-authorized investigative tools are available to police to protect Canadians in the digital age.
The organizations said in a media statement that Canada is relying on outdated rules designed for an earlier era of communication technology. “The result is a growing gap between the reality of modern investigation needs and the legal tools available to support them.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2026.
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
