Bill C-30 falls owing to expense and privacy concerns

The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rarely backed down during its seven years in power. It has made an exception on the controversial internet surveillance legislation first introduced in early 2012.

Bill C-30 was opposed by federal and provincial privacy commissioners, who decried the provisions that would permit law enforcement officials to compel internet service providers (ISPs) to identify clients without a warrant. ISPs opposed the bill because they claimed it would force them to install expensive tracking equipment.

But the bill – officially named The Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act – will be best remembered for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews' taunt in the House of Commons that opposition members could either “stand with us or with the child pornographers.”