Matthew Behrens

Matthew Behrens is a freelance writer and social justice advocate who coordinates the Homes not Bombs non-violent direct action network. His column "Taking Liberties" examines connections between national security and civil liberties. Behrens has worked closely with the targets of Canadian and U.S. "national security" profiling for many years.

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'Rule of law' racism, C-51 and the coming resistance wave

It's a sign of how utterly frightened they are of democracy when politicians and pundits start lecturing us about the "real" definition of civil disobedience. This usually happens during the sanitizing rituals of the January Martin Luther King Day holiday, when King's revolutionary calls to justice are erased in favour of saccharine, self-congratulatory events wholly unconnected to the civil rights movement's multiple, powerful legacies.

But public cautions around "acceptable" forms of dissent began hatching in late 2016 when the Trudeau government announced support for a slew of harmful pipelines that, along with other environmentally destructive projects like B.C.'s Site C and Muskrat Falls, will inspire increasing levels of direct action.

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The terror at home that Canada will not name

Section 83.01 of the Criminal Code defines terrorism as an act committed "in whole or in part for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause" with the intention of intimidating the public "[w]ith regard to its security, including its economic security, or compelling a person, a government or a domestic or an international organization to do or to refrain from doing any act."

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Trudeau's Trumpishness bulldozes Indigenous rights

Considering the sick political calculus that rules Ottawa's backrooms, it is not inconceivable that the bubbly was pouring in Liberal circles with the stateside election of Donald Trump. Indeed, after having enjoyed a year-long honeymoon as the anti-Harper, Trudeau and his aides likely saw this new development as a gift that extends the honeymoon under the guise of being the anti-Donald.

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Canada's torture consumers and the faux national security consultation

Anyone following discussions on the ultimate disposition of the Harper regime's C-51 "anti-terror" legislation -- which received crucial Liberal support during a 2015 Parliamentary vote -- will soon be hearing a lot about "SIRC." The acronym will be bandied about as various professors, lawyers and terrorism industry "experts" bloviate on what they think will "improve" a law that is so fundamentally flawed and dangerous that taking anything short of an abolitionist position is to be complicit in the human rights abuses C-51 authorizes.

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Torture national security security apparatus security agencies Bill C-51 mass surveillance Canadian privacy law Trudeau government Green Paper

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Bombs away! How Canada is here to help

When Justin Trudeau spoke to a bored, half-empty United Nations last week, he repeated the nauseatingly saccharine slogan, "We're Canadian, and we're here to help," sounding exactly like the disingenuous insurance salesman whose empty promises come with that sickly smile.

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B.C. Court finds RCMP organized terrorist plot

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RCMP CSIS anti-terrorism security agencies Bill C-51

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Trudeau continues Harper assault on human rights

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There's something about Justin Trudeau and his PR-spinning Liberal Team that reminds me of the Tennessee Williams character Harvey "Big Daddy" Pollitt from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Pollitt famously uttered the line:

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Torture human rights Harper government detainees Canadian militarism security agencies Bill C-44 C-51 Trudeau government

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Saying no to Canada's death game

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Victory: Jaballah secret trial security certificate found unreasonable

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security certificates National Security Certificate CSIS secret trials Mahmoud Jaballah the secret trial five Bill C-51

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The unbearable lightness of Stéphane Dion

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At the end of May, the Trudeau team and, specifically, its piffle of a global affairs minister, Stéphane Dion, will likely fail two significant foreign policy tests that will challenge their ability to comply with domestic and international law. One deals with an individual war criminal, while the other is a massive terrorism and torture trade show coming to Ottawa.

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Stephane Dion weapons Canadian foreign policy war crimes Canadian militarism cansec war-mongering Trudeau government Responsible conviction saudi arms deal

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Matthew Behrens

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