Total Information Awareness: the disastrous consequences of Bill C-51

Great summary and links thanks to Michael Geist (Feb. 19, 2014).

4 former Canadian Prime Ministers (Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, Joe Clark, John Turner), along with 18 other prominent Canadians call for accountability for Canada's national security agency in a Globe and Mail article (Feb. 19, 2014). Excerpt:

National security agencies, like all government institutions, must be accountable to the public. Accountability engenders public confidence and trust in activities undertaken by the government, particularly where those activities might be cloaked in secrecy. Independent checks and balances ensure that national security activities are protecting the public, and not just the government in power. Oversight and review mechanisms are necessary to make sure that powers are being exercised lawfully, and that government officials are not called upon to undertake activities that might expose them or Canada to legal liability either at home or abroad.