Craig Forcese on how our anti-terror laws make Canadians less safe

In the wake of the attacks in Beirut and Paris, the debate about security has become urgent. The French government has given its police new security powers, but how different are the new French laws from Canada’s new and controversial anti-terror laws, known as Bill C-51?

After the attacks, is the law more relevant? Or do its critics still believe it needs to be fundamentally altered? Maclean’s speaks with Craig Forcese, the co-author of a new book on Canada’s legal response to threats called False Security: The Radicalization of Canadian Anti-terrorism. Forcese, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, and Kent Roach, a professor of law at the University of Toronto, have done pioneering work studying Canada’s anti-terror laws and they argue that, even in the wake of the Paris bombing, our laws make Canadians less safe.