National Security Law and Anti-Terrorism Law

In a commentary in The Globe and Mail, Prof. Kent Roach and Prof. Craig Forcese of the University of Ottawa argue that proposed Canadian government legislation to criminalize the advocacy of terrorism would be a serious constraint of free speech, and likely unconstitutional ("How Ottawa’s new terrorism act could chill free speech," February 5, 2015).

Prof. Kent Roach, with Prof. Craig Forcese of the University of Ottawa, has written a commentary in The Globe and Mail analyzing the Canadian government's proposed overhaul of national security laws ("Red, yellow lights for security measures," January 30, 2015).

Read the commentary on The Globe and Mail website, or below.

Our faculty comment regularly in the media on current issues. The five faculty op-eds that were most viewed on our website over the past year addressed some of the most immediate and controversial topics of 2014, ranging from citizenship to prostitution, terrorism, high-frequency trading and elections.

By Sheldon Gordon

In August 2013, a White House emissary approached Geoffrey Stone to serve on a presidential panel following Edward Snowden's revelations about electronic intelligence gathering by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

In the wake of the attack in Ottawa that killed a Canadian soldier and resulted in shooting in the Parliament Buildings, Prof. Kent Roach has provided insight into the role of anti-terrorism laws, in various media.

In Just Security, he wrote "The Canadian Terrorist Attacks and Canadian Counter-Terrorism Law," (October 23, 2014). Read the commentary on the Just Security website.

In a commentary in The Globe and Mail, Prof. Kent Roach and Carmen Cheung, former acting Director of the International Human Rights Program, analyze the dangers inherent in the United Nations Security Council's recent anti-terrorism resolution ("UN wants to battle Islamic State, but is it fighting freedom?," October 2, 2014).

Read the commentary on The Globe and Mail website, or below.

In a commentary in The Globe and Mail, Cheryl Milne, executive director of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, analyzes the Alberta Court of Appeal decision that Omar Khadr should serve his sentence as a young offender rather than an adult ("One small step toward justice for Omar Khadr," July 9, 2014).

Read the commentary on The Globe and Mail website, or below.

In a commentary in the Ottawa Citizen, Prof. Kent Roach argues that current oversight of the Communications Security Establishment Canada agency is inadequate ("Surveillance and Canada’s lagging law," February 6, 2014).

Read the commentary on the Ottawa Citizen website, or below.

Surveillance and Canada’s lagging law

By Kent Roach

In a commentary in the Ottawa Citizen, Prof. Kent Roach looks at various mechanisms for legislative oversight of intelligence agencies and proposes "a single body to review the collection and sharing of intelligence throughout government" ("How to hold our spies accountable," November 19, 2013).

Read the commentary on the Ottawa Citizen website, or below.