Canada’s Bill C-22 Is a Repackaged Version of Last Year’s Surveillance Nightmare - "Last year, the Canadian government pushed Bill C-2, which would erode Canadian digital rights in the name of “border security.” The bill was so bad it didn’t even make it to committee because of the backlash from the privacy community. Now, the spring’s worst sequel, Bill C-22, aka The Lawful Access Act, is trying it again... The dangers of these sorts of backdoors are not theoretical. In 2024, the Salt Typhoon hack took advantage of a system built by Internet Service Providers to give law enforcement access to user data. When you build these systems, hackers will come."
Vicki Johnson ๐จ๐ฆ❤️๐ฌ๐ท๐ on X - "Every Canadian with a smartphone or smart appliances should pay close attention to what Bill C-22 will entail. The government, through this bill, is ordering telecom providers and smart device providers to have the capability to turn on your device's microphone remotely, eavesdropping on your conversations in the privacy of your own home ๐ก, car, or wherever you are. This isn't something we, as Canadians, should be subjected to, period. The Liberal government, especially now under Carnage Carney, is quickly moving Canada ๐จ๐ฆ into a dystopian future of all-encompassing surveillance. They are using the novel 1984 as their procedural manual. Canadians should be outraged over this bill and must ensure that it is not passed!!! #StopBillC22 ๐๐ป๐๐ป๐๐ป"
bu/ac on X - "Fucking wild that the Government of Canada wants to be able to access your phone, cameras, all your data at anytime they want. Not only that the bill allows foreign policy to spy on any Canadian without a warrant. Meanwhile the Government made it so all emails and and texts of theirs are automatically erased after 15 days. And people are like “fill out the Canadian census or you won’t get a paved road”. So Fake And Gay."
Apple argues Liberals' lawful access bill could put users’ personal data at risk - "Last year, Apple removed its strongest data security tool from customers in the U.K., after the British government asked the company to create the ability to access the content via a back door."
U.S. Congressional Leaders Warn Canadian Lawful Access Plans Harm U.S. National Security and Economic Interests - "Their core concern is that the bill could compel U.S. technology companies to build backdoors into their encrypted systems, introducing systemic vulnerabilities for users in both countries."
Michael Geist on X - "Bill C-22 gives US tech companies a stark choice: compromise security of their entire user base, including US citizens, or consider exiting Canada. That's not a hypothetical. Congress is now saying it out loud, warning about the risks of lawful access."
Cyrus ๐ป๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐บ๐ธ on X - "I wouldn’t be surprised if this was by design to force American tech to exit Canada so that we can welcome Chinese tech into the country as a replacement."
Mario4thenorth | Facebook - "Signal, the non-profit, encrypted-messaging app, just warned, it would rather leave Canada than comply with Bill C-22. Here’s what Bill C-22 actually does:
✅ Forces tech companies to build surveillance backdoors into their systems
✅ Mandates that every cell phone in Canada be trackable
✅ Allows the Minister of Public Safety to issue SECRET orders to turn your Amazon Alexa into a listening device
✅ Requires metadata retention for up to one year: who you called, when, and where you were
No comparable Western nation has adopted surveillance powers this broad. Meta called it conscripting private companies into “the government’s surveillance apparatus.” The US wrote directly to the minister warning it compromises American citizens’ privacy.
A lawyer told committee: “As written, the minister could issue a secret order to turn your smart TV into a listening device.” Imagine: this is the same government that froze bank accounts without a court order. The same government that turned off committee cameras. The same government with 638 unresolved wrongdoing complaints. Now wants inside your phone."
Windscribe joins Signal in threatening Canada exit over controversial surveillance bill - "The fight for digital privacy in North America is heating up. Popular Virtual Private Network (VPN) provider Windscribe has threatened to relocate its headquarters out of Canada if the country's controversial new surveillance legislation, known as Bill C-22, is passed into law. Introduced in March 2026, the proposed Lawful Access Act aims to give law enforcement broader tools to investigate severe crimes. However, privacy advocates and tech companies are sounding the alarm, warning that the bill’s requirements would severely weaken user security. If enacted, Bill C-22 would mandate electronic service providers to build technical surveillance capabilities and retain certain user metadata for up to a year. For anyone using a VPN to protect their online identity, this legislation contradicts the strict no-logs policies that keep user data out of the hands of governments and hackers alike. Windscribe's ultimatum followed a similar warning from the encrypted messaging platform Signal. Earlier in the week, Signal's Vice President of Strategy and Global Affairs, Udbhav Tiwari, told reporters that the bill could force the introduction of technical vulnerabilities, making private messaging platforms a prime target for foreign adversaries. Tiwari stated that the firm "would rather pull out of the country" than comply with a law that undermines its privacy commitments. Responding to the news on X, Windscribe made it clear that it shares Signal's zero-tolerance stance on mandatory logging. "We won't be far behind if C-22 passes," Windscribe stated. "In its current state, VPNs would almost certainly require us to log identifying user data." While Signal operates entirely outside of Canada and could simply shut off its Canadian servers, Windscribe faces a much more complex logistical challenge. The company was founded in Toronto, meaning its core operations and headquarters fall directly under Canadian legal jurisdiction. Expressing frustration with the proposed regulatory framework, Windscribe’s post on X did not mince words regarding the financial and ethical toll of the bill. "Signal isn't headquartered in Canada so they can just shut off Canadian servers, but our HQ is," the VPN provider added. "We pay an ungodly amount of taxes to this corrupt government, and in return they want to destroy the entire essence of our service to basically spy on its own citizens." The looming threat of Bill C-22 mirrors similar global legislative battles, such as the European Union's highly debated "chat control" proposals and the UK's Online Safety Act, both of which have drawn heavy criticism for threatening end-to-end encryption. For Windscribe users, the company's threat to relocate should offer a degree of reassurance. The provider recently had its strict no-logs policy empirically validated in a 2025 Greek court case, where authorities were unable to retrieve any user data because the company simply had none to give. Relocating its headquarters would allow Windscribe to maintain this technical infrastructure without running afoul of Canadian law."
David Peterson on X - "Regarding Canada's Bill C-22: @ProtonVPN is Swiss. Complying with foreign surveillance orders without Swiss legal process is a criminal offence. Not happening. We'll defend our Canadian users and never compromise them. We will fight C-22's application by every means available."
cbcwatcher on X - "CBC's amateur-hour take on Bill C-22 misses the biggest flaws: This "simple" police access bill would force telecoms, apps, and tech (Apple, Meta, Signal etc) to build backdoors, retain your metadata/location/comms for a YEAR, and install gov-directed tech thereby weakening encryption "with warrants"
Reality CBC ignored:
๐ชSignal, NordVPN, Proton & others threaten to EXIT Canada entirely rather than break privacy (just like Meta blocked news under Bill C-18)
๐ฏCreates massive honeypots for hackers & foreign spies. U.S. Congress already warned of cross-border risks
⚠️Vague "safeguards" won't stop scope creep or abuse. Gag orders hide it from the public.
๐ฎPolice get easier access while criminals switch tools. Law-abiding Canadians lose strong encryption available everywhere else
๐Repeats Online News Act disaster: tech pullbacks, degraded services, innovation hit
Minister claims "no encryption break" but the bill's technical mandates say otherwise. Rush to pass by summer = no real fixes This isn't balanced journalism... it's advocacy that buries real privacy/security costs. Needs major amendments or it will backfire just like C-18! Canadians deserve better than surveillance theater from CBC's Cat Tunney @mgeist @gary_srp @privacylawyer @cattunneycbc"
Meme - TableSalt @Tablesalt13: "BREAKING The Canadian government has been community noted AGAIN."
Public Safety Canada @Safety_Canada: "All G7, Five Eye partners and most EU countries have lawful access frameworks that include technical obligations for electronic service providers."
"Bill C-22 an act to keep Canadians safe"
Readers added context they thought people might want to know: "The EU Court of Justice has ruled twice that general and indiscriminate mandatory data retention by service providers is unlawful, meaning most EU countries lack equivalent frameworks to Bill C-22's metadata retention requirements."
Juno News on X - "A Google exec warned Bill C-22 "goes beyond any regime that I'm familiar with" because it gives government broad secret powers without judicial oversight. Google says it was not consulted before the bill was tabled."
Chris Ryan on X - "๐จ APPLE JUST DROPPED A BOMBSHELL ON CANADA’S BILL C-22: “This may be one of the LAST times we’re permitted to discuss the consequences of this legislation publicly.” ๐ค Why? The bill’s secrecy provisions GAG companies like Apple from telling YOU or the PUBLIC about SECRET government orders for your data. ๐ป This isn’t “lawful access.” It’s forced encryption backdoors + permanent gag orders. Apple: We will NEVER build backdoors that put every Canadian at risk. Canada is sliding into authoritarian surveillance. Kill Bill C-22 before it kills our privacy. ๐จ๐ฆ #KillC22 #Apple #SurveillanceState"
Facebook - "Bill C-9, C-22 And C-8 Are All Interconnected: Why Aren't They Talking About This? Bill C-9 criminalizes hate speech — it defines what you're allowed to say. Bill C-22 forces telecoms to record everything you do online and save it for up to one year without a warrant. Bill C-8 allows the government to cut you off the internet entirely if they consider you a threat to the network. They would never know you're a threat without Bill C-22. They could never call you a threat without Bill C-9. What will it take for Conservatives and Independent Media to start connecting the dots? #CanadaPolitics #IndependentMedia #ConservativeParty #canadafirst #chinada"
Time to speak out against Bill C-22 - "The CEO of Canada’s largest tech company, Tobi Lutke of Shopify, sees the Liberals’ legislation as a huge mistake, posting on X: “C-22 is looking like a huge mistake. It worries me a great deal. There is so much nonsense in there that it may well end up dealing a death blow to Canadian tech viability.”... Regarding security and sovereignty, Canadian investigative journalist Sam Cooper has suggested that C-22 will surveil Canadians and compile data that can be accessed by transnational crime cartels and, most likely, given the Canada-Sino strategic partnership, by the Chinese Communist Party. Cooper writes on this in The Bureau and, in part, he warns: “Beijing is patiently positioning itself — collecting encrypted messaging data from Western users while its universities and state-linked hackers advance quantum computing technologies powerful enough to break into private Western communications. Without entering complex legal territory, it is fair to say that enough credible experts have made the case that Ottawa would be opening the door and handing Beijing the keys to exploit exactly these kinds of structural weaknesses. In passing Bill C-22 as written, Canada would be legislating a gift to the adversary.” The concerns of a host of U.S. high tech companies operating in Canada have been heard in Washington D.C. and a congressional committee sent a warning letter to Anandasangaree that the new requirements for retention of users’ metadata and “back door” access for government agencies is a threat to both U.S. national security and the integrity of cross-border data flows. (An important aside is that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee looking at Bill C-22 is the same committee that exposed the U.N.’s global financing alliance for net-zero policies (GFANZ) as a “climate cartel” and criticized Carney for his role). Regarding Canadians’ privacy rights, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has been vocal in its worry that the legislation is a serious threat. The organization’s president John Carpay baldly states, “Canadians deserve security without sacrificing privacy. When laws drive secure communications services out of the country, Canadians should be asking serious questions about privacy, security, and government overreach.” JCCF urges the government to make substantial changes to the legislation, including “removing the proposed production order, eliminating mandatory data retention requirements, requiring full judicial oversight, and adding a sunset clause.”... MP Leslyn Lewis summarized the seriousness of Bill C-22 becoming law in her second reading debate in the House of Commons: the legislation “allows the government to build a system that makes it easier to access your telecom data, your phone, internet, and other digital activity, by requiring networks to be ready for that access. The problem is how that system is being built. It is being shaped by government ministers, behind closed doors, and without full parliamentary scrutiny. Ministers will set the rules for how your data is collected, retained, and accessed — through regulation, not through open debate in Parliament. Bill C-22 is not just about access to your data. It is about control over the system that makes that access possible.” Dean Allison, local MP for Niagara West, brought into focus the larger picture for Canadians when he posited: “First it was Bill C-11 controlling what Canadians see online. Then Bill C-18 blocking and manipulating access to news. Now Bill C-22 takes the next step: surveillance and state control…. This is no longer about ‘safety’ or ‘protecting Canadians.’ It is about control. A government that froze bank accounts without court orders, shut off committee cameras, and faces hundreds of unresolved wrongdoing complaints now wants expanded access into your digital life. Canadians should be asking a very serious question: How much freedom are we prepared to surrender in the name of government ‘oversight’?” Final word this week goes to Canadian broadcaster and political commentator Jasmin Laine, who summarizes the cumulative effect of the Carney Liberals’ online legislation: “When governments begin simultaneously influencing what citizens see, what narratives are amplified, what information is suppressed, and how securely people can communicate, you are no longer dealing with isolated policy decisions. You are looking at the infrastructure for behavioural and narrative control. That should terrify every Canadian—regardless of political affiliation.”"
Jacob Mantle on X - "๐จ BREAKING๐จ The Liberals are trying to ram C-22 through the House of Commons before summer. This would mean zero, absolutely zero amendments, zero further debate, to the largest expansion of government surveillance in history. This is not democracy, this is tyranny. @googlecanada @Apple @Meta @tobi @mgeist @privacylawyer @windscribecom @NordVPN @DuckDuckGo @MWACCanada @bccla @JoshDehaas @ProtonVPN @expressvpn @CDNConstFound @ggreenwald @PrivacyPrivee"
Ottawa is trying to censor AI chatbots with new online harms law : r/canada - "From Windscribe:
• C-8: Without a court order, govt can cut you off from the internet
• C-9: Criminalizes speech online
• C-22: Keep a year of metadata of everything you do online
• C-34: Requires ID checks to use social media"
"When he said they would move at speeds we never thought possible, I thought he was talking about the economy."
tobi lutke on X - "These bills, along with C-22 and C-9 constitute a total erosion in Canada’s basic liberties. They interlock into making Canada essentially unviable for those with choices on where to build."
Michael Geist on X - "The kids’ social media ban gets the headlines, but my post argues Bill C-34’s most consequential element may be the Commission, a super-regulator overseeing the system with its own rules of evidence, potentially secret hearings, and wide-ranging powers."
Michael Geist on X = "You have to read Bill C-34 on The Commission to believe it. It sets the rules on age verification, social media bans, and content removals while serving as combined regulator, investigator and advocate. At the start, Chair alone can be the full Commission."
Build Canada on X - "You've likely seen the headlines from bills C-34, C-36, and C-22 in the media. Each may sound reasonable on their own: protect kids online, modernize privacy, help police catch criminals. But buried within is an emerging Digital Regulatory Superpower unlike anything Canadians have ever seen. These bills hand one unelected commission power over what Canadians can say, what stays private, and who the state can watch. As of today, the Federal Government is rushing to enact massive Internet Surveillance Reform into law without proper debate."
This Week in Canada: Your Anti-Racism Is Not Anti-Racist Enough - "Should governments give themselves the power to construct the infrastructure for large-scale digital surveillance? Once they have that power, they will wield it. Canada has not earned much trust. Back in 2022, the same Liberal Party that just brought us Bill C-22 treated the trucker convoy as almost an insurrection. Mark Carney, then just a resident of Ottawa who happened to be former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England—not yet the prime minister—wrote in The Globe and Mail that protesters had engaged in sedition and “are not patriots.” He urged the government to start “enforcing the law and following the money.” “Those who are still helping to extend this occupation must be identified and punished to the full force of the law. . . . by now anyone sending money to the convoy should be in no doubt: You are funding sedition,” Carney wrote. “Drawing the line means choking off the money that financed this occupation.” Once governments start viewing domestic dissent as problematic, surveillance powers look awfully tempting... Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and one of Canada’s leading experts on internet law, recently warned Parliament that retaining such information at this scale would create “a comprehensive surveillance map of virtually every Canadian.” Similar data-retention regimes have been struck down by the European Union’s top court. There is something darkly ironic about all this. Governments and tech companies spent years and fortunes encouraging citizens to digitize every aspect of their lives. Work online, bank online, store memories online, communicate online, they all told us. Many of those same companies built business models around harvesting enormous amounts of personal data and cooperated with state surveillance efforts. Now, after pushing society past the point of no return on digital dependence, governments are demanding more and more access to that data, even if it was supposed to be protected from outsiders.
