I spy...............on everybody.

Next month the Canadian government plans to introduce legislation which will allow the police, secret or otherwise, to electronically snoop on every Canadian who has a phone or an internet connection. There is not much doubt that the legislation will be passed, given the state of hysteria in Canada and other countries.

Does anybody see anything wrong with this?

What moral right does the government have to listen to my phone calls or read my e-mail unless I am suspected of having committed some crime?

The government says that the police need this power in order to combat crime, including terrorism. It's beginning to look to me like the government is a terrorist organization.

They propose to force the telecom industry to provide the equipment which will make this snooping posible, and to keep records of all communications for some period of time.

Ultimately a gigantic data base will be created which will be loaded with people's private information. Given the fact that the government can't do anything properly the data base will be just about as secure as a public bulletin board. My Aunt Matilda would probably be able to hack into it without half trying.

I hope that canadians will rise up and protest this unjustified invasion of privacy.

I'm all in favour of supporting proper law enforcement and arresting and penalizing those who break the law. I believe that parents should be held responsible for crimes committed by their minor children. I would bring back the lash for people who are guilty of sexually molesting children. I am not any kind of a bleeding heart liberal. But I do believe that no person's privacy should be invaded without a good reason. I believe that police should have all the necessary tools to do their work. But giving them a fishing net to cast over every Canadian will almost certainly cause more problems than it will solve.

But then I don't believe in torture as a means of extracting statements from prisoners. Our government doesn't seem to object to Canadians being kidnapped by a foreign power and sent to Syria or Egypt where they can be tortured.