Today, Canadian’s lives today are as translucent as ever. Most organizations especially the government constantly watches each and every one of our moves. From driving to the shopping mall to withdrawing money from the ATM machine, Canadians are being watched constantly. With Canada’s commitment to advance technology and infrastructure in the 1960s, government surveillance is much easier and much more prevalent than it was hundreds of years ago. Even as early as 1940s, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics used punch cards and machines to determine who is available for conscription in the military. Several ethnicity groups such as the Germans, the Italians, the Japanese, the Chinese and the Indians were removed from the military. Today, with the advancement of information technology such as the internet and high speed security cameras, access to personal information by the government has never been much easier. For instance, airport security now uses finger printing, cameras, and electronic devices in passports that did not exist in the 1990s. For the majority of Canadians, this is a concern because it goes directly against their rights to freedom and privacy. For example, more than half of Canadians in 2012 said that they are against police and intelligence services acquiring information on Canadians on social media sites. Two-third of Canadians in the same year did not agree to the statement “police and intelligence agencies should have more powers to ensure security even if
The government is always watching to ensure safety of their country, including everything and everyone in it. Camera surveillance has become an accepted and almost expected addition to modern safety and crime prevention (“Where” para 1). Many people willingly give authorization to companies like Google and Facebook to make billions selling their personal preferences, interests, and data. Canada participates with the United States and other countries in monitoring national and even global communications (“Where” para 2). Many question the usefulness of this kind of surveillance (Hier, Let, and Walby 1).However, surveillance, used non-discriminatorily, is, arguably, the key technology to preventing terrorist plots (Eijkman 1). Government
Today, Canadian’s lives today are as translucent as ever. Most organizations especially the government constantly watches each and every one of our moves. By definition, surveillance is any systematic focus on any information in order to influence, manage, entitle, or control those whose information is collected. (Bennet et Al, 6). From driving to the shopping mall to withdrawing money from the ATM machine, Canadians are being watched constantly. With Canada’s commitment to advance technology and infrastructure in the 1960s, government surveillance is much easier and much more prevalent than it was hundreds of years ago. Even as early as 1940s, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics used punch cards and machines to determine who is available
The purpose of this act is to encourage and monitor the sharing of information between Government of Canada institutions in order to protect Canada against activities that threaten the security of Canada, but this bill not only fails to fix those flaws, it recreates and causes more underlying problems without adding any meaningful safeguards to ensure the expansive powers it grants will not be similarly abused. The bill allows information sharing across 17 government institutions for a wide range of purposes, most of which have nothing to do with terrorism. After the bill was passed, it has raised serious concerns regarding the potential impact is has on the basic civil liberties of all Canadians. The new legislation significantly expands CSIS’
The United states national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, states: "Land of the free, home of the brave." This patriotic song adopted by the United States as our national anthem to express our nation's identity is no longer justified in relations with females being required to be drafted into the military. The word required emphasizes that this is not the "land of the free" because the United States is making it a requirement for citizens to be forced into the military out of their own free will. Furthermore, the anthem states "home of the brave", but people are not being brave when they are being forced. Bravery means having courage and being ready to face anything that comes your way, but if the military is making it a requirement to those
As a Canadian in today’s society we believe we have a certain set of inalienable rights. One of those rights that seem to be at the forefront of the 2015 Canadian election is privacy. As Dr. Kent Roach and Dr. Craig Forcese state, “privacy is, in our society, the right to be left alone by the state.” The Conservative upbringing of Bill C-51 challenges the ideology around our right to be private, as well as our government’s role in the protection of Canada from threats of terrorism. The Harper government essentially, will increase their role in national security to keep a constant watchful eye on potentially harmful situations and end them before anyone is hurt or killed. If passed, the bill would allow the government to arrest anyone suspected of terrorism without that person even committing a crime. Furthermore, the language used in the bill is extremely vague and makes one question, where the line will be drawn? Will our basic rights to peaceful protest and free speech be affected? Unfortunately perhaps they will. One of the most concerning parts of the bill in regard to privacy is the fact that the government will now be able to access several sensitive documents about citizens from top agencies such as the Public Health Agency, Canadian Border Services Agency as well as the Canadian Border Services Agency. Privacy is changing in Canada. This is a landmark bill and as such it is creating quite a splash in the ongoing Canadian Election.
According to the NCSL, National Conference of State Legislatures “Over the last five years, campus safety legislation has been a hot issue across the country”. Authors like Jazz Silva are standing up for student’s rights that some State Legislatures might not care about. Not only are weapons dangerous but it is unsafe to students who may struggle with mental health issues. College campuses are safer than the communities that surround them. The University of Louisiana system states “93% of the violence against students occurs off campus.” Allowing guns on campus would lead to an escalation in violence, can lead to an increased number of suicides by college students, and the possibility that a weapon can go off by accident.
In this essay, I will attempt to argue that TSA serves as a mechanism for the government to frame the nature of the debate on privacy, in a way that is beneficial to them. To do this I will first argue that airport security and the TSA is objectively ineffective and merely creates the illusion of privacy. Despite not actually protecting us, the system of airplane security, conditions individuals in the general public to be willing to make sacrifices in privacy for a perceived “greater good” in community safety. This viewpoint of individuals sacrificing a little privacy for the wellbeing of society is the essentially the same “nothing to hide” argument that the government uses to justify mass surveillance and the violation of constitutional privacy rights. This airplane security and analogues government argument is flawed because it defines privacy two narrowly in scope and assumes that privacy couldn’t have social value. However, despite being flawed, the indoctrination by the TSA, and subsequent ideology has become a widely accepted belief. This is inherently
In the year 2000 the United States saw 1.6 million people apprehended by Homeland Security. This was the highest number of apprehensions in United States history. However, this would be the first and last time that Homeland saw such obscene numbers. Over the past 17 years there has been a steady decline in both removals and returns made by Homeland Security. As of 2015 there were just under half a million people who were either returned (deportation with no order of removal) or removed (deportation with order of removal) by the government. Still, half a million people is an outstanding number, and that is just the number of those who are sent back, not those who still manage to live in the United States unlawfully. While the difference between
12 billion dollars, that is certainly a lot of money (McFadyen)! On average, that is how much the United States loses each year from border security. In order to stop illegal immigrants and drug smugglers from entering the U.S. from Mexico through the border, a wall must be built.
Surveillance and biopolitical governance are terms usually associated with the internal surveillance methods of the United States, especially in light of the Snowden NSA leaks. However, Canada has developed an elusive biopolitical national security policy that has both social and political consequences. In April 2004, the Canada’s federal government introduced its first national security legislation, Securing an Open Society: Canada’s National Security Policy (Bell 147). Discussions surrounding a national security agenda has expanded rapidly since the tragic events of 9/11. Canada has quoted $690 million in national security policy and strategy however, this only reflects a portion of the actual total amount of money put towards security and
America has been on edge about protecting both its country and the citizens in it ever since 9/11 occurred. We have developed a more strict security line with the placement of Homeland security. We also tested our limits to make sure that terrorism in this country would no longer become a threat to U.S citizens; little did we know that our efforts to prevent the inevitable would only last a short time. Now that the U.S has eliminated its central threat Osama Bin Laden leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group in the Middle East, another issue has created nothing but chaos and has further split the foreign relations between the U.S and the Middle East.
Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.
Airport security in the United States has been a controversial topic since the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was established to ensure the safety and security of US airports. New regulations such as taking off shoes and full body scanners soon became the new normal in airports across the country. Travelers voiced concerns and complaints over the heightened security measures, arguing that they invade privacy and are unethical. On the other hand, Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport takes a very different approach to tackle terrorism in airports. Instead of high-tech machines, the airport focuses on the use of intelligence data and profiling to effectively identify terrorists. In the
With the widespread use of technology becoming more prominent, acts of cyber terrorism pose an increased threat to safety. Cyber terrorists exploit the internet and its users to commit acts that can be increasingly detrimental to their targets. Some of the terrorist activities include large scale corruption of computer networks by using tools like computer viruses. Certain individuals even have the ability of creating severe damage to government systems, national security systems and even hospital servers. Most of the technology made today only has intentions of making life easier for people. However, skilled users can manipulate the cyber world for negative intentions. Staying informed when it comes to cyber terrorism and cybercrime is important to do because of the increased reliance on technology in society. Steps to improve cyber security before an attack ensures the safety of sensitive information. The topic of cyber security and cyber warfare are interesting topics to keep up to date with. Understanding these topics can be beneficial to my dream of being in the FBI, ensuring the safety of others by working to prevent acts of cyberterrorism.
Why spend money that is really needed for other things? Why live uncomfortably? Why be trapped in this hole called a home that belongs to another person? Why not live free and peacefully? When a person rents he or she usually throws away money that could be used to purchase something that belongs to them. Money is not easy to come by so why pay out hundreds toward something that is not benefit to the person paying it out. There is no good explanation for making a decision like this. The best option in a situation like this is to buy a house. Buying a house is a better option than renting an apartment.