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RECOMMENDATION |
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Her Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of
Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances,
in the manner and for the purposes set out in a measure entitled ``An Act
to amend the Criminal Code, the Official Secrets Act, the Canada
Evidence Act, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act and other
Acts, and to enact measures respecting the registration of charities, in
order to combat terrorism''.
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SUMMARY |
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This enactment amends the Criminal Code, the Official Secrets Act,
the Canada Evidence Act, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering)
Act and a number of other Acts, and enacts the Charities Registration
(Security Information) Act, in order to combat terrorism.
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Part 1 amends the Criminal Code to implement international
conventions related to terrorism, to create offences related to terrorism,
including the financing of terrorism and the participation, facilitation
and carrying out of terrorist activities, and to provide a means by which
property belonging to terrorist groups, or property linked to terrorist
activities, can be seized, restrained and forfeited. It also provides for the
deletion of hate propaganda from public web sites and creates an
offence relating to damage to property associated with religious
worship.
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Part 2 amends the Official Secrets Act, which becomes the Security
of Information Act. It addresses national security concerns, including
threats of espionage by foreign powers and terrorist groups, economic
espionage and coercive activities against émigré communities in
Canada. It creates new offences to counter intelligence-gathering
activities by foreign powers and terrorist groups, as well as other
offences, including the unauthorized communication of special
operational information.
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Part 3 amends the Canada Evidence Act to address the judicial
balancing of interests when the disclosure of information in legal
proceedings would encroach on a specified public interest or be
injurious to international relations or national defence or security. The
amendments impose obligations on parties to notify the Attorney
General of Canada if they anticipate the disclosure of sensitive
information or information the disclosure of which could be injurious
to international relations or national defence or security, and they give
the Attorney General the powers to assume carriage of a prosecution
and to prohibit the disclosure of information in connection with a
proceeding for the purpose of protecting international relations or
national defence or security.
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Part 4 amends the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act,
which becomes the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and
Terrorist Financing Act. The amendments will assist law enforcement
and investigative agencies in the detection and deterrence of the
financing of terrorist activities, facilitate the investigation and
prosecution of terrorist activity financing offences, and improve
Canada's ability to cooperate internationally in the fight against
terrorism.
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Part 5 amends the Access to Information Act, Canadian Human
Rights Act, Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, Corrections
and Conditional Release Act, Federal Court Act, Firearms Act,
National Defence Act, Personal Information Protection and Electronic
Documents Act, Privacy Act, Seized Property Management Act and
United Nations Act. The amendments to the National Defence Act
clarify the powers of the Communications Security Establishment to
combat terrorism.
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Part 6 enacts the Charities Registration (Security Information) Act,
and amends the Income Tax Act, in order to prevent those who support
terrorist or related activities from enjoying the tax privileges granted to
registered charities.
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