Who is Spying on Me?

It is possible, if one stretched one's imagination to the outmost limits, to conceive of the possibility that some people in the Canadian Government might legitimately be concerned over an attack on Canadian soil by foreign terrorists. It might even be a legitimate exercise to think about how one would or could prevent such an attack. But that wild imagining is a long way from assuming that ordinary Canadian citizens who feels as if they have exhausted all normal means of getting the government's attention are terrorists because they choose to protest over government action or inaction.

 The role of CSIS according to its own site  is to:

                report[s] to, and advise[s], the Government of Canada to protect the country and its                               citizens. Key threats include terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,                 espionage, foreign interference and cyber-tampering affecting critical infrastructure. CSIS                  programs are proactive and pre-emptive.

                The CSIS Security Screening program, helps the Government of Canada prevent    

                 non- Canadians who pose a threat to national security from entering Canada or         

                 acquiring status  in this country, as well as preventing persons of national security concern 

                 from gaining access to classified or sensitive government information, assets, sites or 

                 major events. (CSIS)

Yesterday the Toronto Star and every other major media outlet in Canada reported that "CSIS helped government prepare for Northern Gateway protests" (Toronto Star). How does the above mandate even in the wildest imagination mentioned above of some politician or bureaucrat allow CSIS to prepare reports on Canadian citizens who are protesting in a reasonably civilized fashion? Were there weapons of mass destruction available to the protesters? Were some ideologically trained foreign espionage agents planning on destroying property? What precious secrets would be divulged? The actions of the government and of CSIS beg the question - can one be a good citizen and a terrorist at the same time?

A few years back, I along with a relatively small number of people chose to, for 30 or so minutes, block a major traffic intersection in Peterborough. It was one of hundreds of Idle No More actions throughout the country designed to draw attention to the myriad of First Nations issues that successive Canadian Governments have refused to deal with. Was it illegal? Yes - there was no parade permit and we did block traffic. Did the people who were there know it was illegal? I did. Did we irritate drivers and interfere with the commerce of the country? Yes, in a small way but yes. Should the Canadian Government spend one nickel on investigating people who were there or infiltrating the organization so that they could develop a plan to stop us? How absurd. If a government refuses on one hand to address the issues raised by some of its citizens and at the same time limits either through law or through threats of intimidation the rights of those individuals to make their needs known, how then should I respond?

I can think of only two ways. Either I bow down to the government's wishes and become a non-participant in the process or I become more active, perhaps more aggressive in my protest to get the government's attention. The former suggestion is not, for me, a possibility. The latter, in spite of the fact that I am a pacifist, is becoming more and more the only option. Breaking the law is becoming a more and more a legitimate option. In fact it might soon be the only one left.