MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Last week, Canada's House of Commons passed an anti-terror bill after several attempts by the opposition to ban the legislation failed. The bill gives Canadian intelligence services powers to monitor suspicious social media accounts and share citizens' personal information across government agencies.
"Limits on the right to free expression should not be introduced into law when based on such vague notions," Mijatovic said in a letter to Canadian Foreign Minister Rob Nicholson, cited on the OSCE website Wednesday.
As the bill was pushed through the parliament, the government insisted the new legislation was aimed at detecting terrorists, not bothering law-abiding citizens.
The bill "criminalizes the unclear concepts of advocating or promoting acts or being reckless in recognizing they may be committed," Mijatovic said in the letter last week.
The Canadian opposition said the bill was dangerous and would not make the country's citizens feel safer.
The government introduced the bill in January in response to the country's first domestic terror attacks in 2014, when, in October, two people were killed in a series of shootings at the Canadian National War Memorial in Ottawa.
In March, thousands of Canadians protested against the bill all across the country, saying it would undermine basic democratic rights and freedoms.
