New bill updates sabotage provisions in the Criminal Code to deal with cyber attacks and other threats

Under the protest exemption in this bill, would that apply to something like the Ambassador Bridge protest that we saw during the convoy protests? Well, it’s always, it’s always going to be key, specific in terms of the assessment that’s made. So what we’re doing is we’re modernizing the sabotage provisions that haven’t been modernized since either 1951 or 1952 used to talk about naval vessels etcetera. We’re talking about things such as attacks on hospitals, attacks on bridges, etcetera. So that’s important. But secondly, it’s also important that we uphold what wasn’t in place in 1952, which is the Charter right. Section 2B entrenches your rights to lawful expression and freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. That’s critical for Canadians. At all times, especially now. So what we’re saying is by specifying that is that it’s going to always be calibrated. Another safeguard that’s in place is that in order to proceed with what can be a sensitive issue that relates to people’s constitutional rights, you can’t proceed with the prosecution without getting the consent of the Attorney General, that’s applicable. So it may be in the case of the master bridge for the consent of the provincial Attorney General in Ontario, if it related to national infrastructure, it might come across my desk. But by building in those safeguards, what we’re ensuring is that we’ve heard Canadians, we consulted with those Canadians. They said yes, we need more protections from foreign interference, we need more protections visa vie our critical infrastructure, but at the same time we want to be able to express our views, including our very sense important views on political issues, which is often what’s being what’s being. It very much depends on the context, right? You can’t answer that in isolation. It would depend on what is transpiring in a given situation. But what I can say to you is that when you have things such as a ransomware attack on things like the new I believe is Newfoundlands healthcare system that’s crippled crippling a hospital in particular institutions. And it’s if it’s being orchestrated by a foreign entity we are targeting that, we are responding to that as we should to make sure our laws are supplement enough to deal with the challenges of today, not the challenges of 1952.