Prof. Kent Roach authors study of Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act review process

On September 10, 2007, the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) released a study by Prof. Kent Roach on the parliamentary review of the Canadian government's Anti-Terrorism Act, entitled "Better Late Than Never? The Canadian Parliamentary Review of the Anti-terrorism Act."

Prof. Roach assesses the policy-making process behind the review of the ATA and the expiry of its provisions regarding preventive arrests and investigative hearings. He is generally disappointed with the reports produced by the House and Senate, as well as the subsequent debate. Prof. Roach argues that the committees' reports "had virtually no impact" on the debate about whether to renew investigative hearings and preventive arrests. He also laments the fact that national security debates "should be becoming more sophisticated and nuanced as we move away from 9/11," but are not, due in part to successive minority governments. If this situation does not change, he says, the Federal Court may "fill the policy vacuum" on issues such as the ATA.

• Read the press release (PDF)
• Read the summary (PDF)
• Read the full study (PDF)

The release of the study was covered in articles in several newspapers, including the Globe and Mail national edition, the Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, Regina Leader-Post, and Windsor Star.