Security officials utilize alternative strategies while they wait for anti-terror legislation

The Harper government has talked-tough about the need to beef-up anti-terrorism legislation following last weeks attacks in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa.

On Monday, the Tories introduced Bill C-44 which would give CSIS the ability to cooperate with international spy agencies and give legal protection to informants who provide them with evidence.

The Feds have also indicated that there’s more legislation on it’s way.

But even before the new laws make their way through the House and the Senate, it appears that officials have already ratcheted-up their counter-terrorism efforts.

And they’re being creative about it.

The Globe and Mail is reporting on the case of Muhammad Aqeeq Ansari, a Pakastani national now living in Ontario.

Ansari’s lawyer tells the Globe that his client was arrested this week — with threat of deportation — under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for being a danger to the security of Canada.

"[Lawyer Anser Farooq] said federal officials allege Mr. Ansari has ties to terrorists in Pakistan, that he had amassed ‘a small arsenal’ of guns; and that he has expressed extreme opinions on Twitter,” notes the report.

"Under Canadian law, less evidence is required to deport someone than to send them to prison."

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Regardless, the Globe goes on to note that security officials are “taking another look at old cases after last week’s attacks” and suggests that Ansari’s “arrest shows that police are using new strategies to charge suspected extremists.”

[ Related: Is it time to invoke the War Measures Act? ]

Meanwhile, the National Post is reporting about a multi-agency “high-risk traveller” tactical group — which began before the latest attacks — tasked with examining cases of Canadians who may be inclined to travel to the middle east to join terrorist groups.

The RCMP has released, to the National Post, a list of five individuals identified through the program and have been arrested — not for terrorism, but for passport fraud.

Both stories suggest that authorities are finding ways to enforce current laws rather than waiting around for new ones to be enacted.

Those examples also lend credence to those that argue that Canada doesn’t a need an overhaul of anti-terrorism measures — that existing laws just need to be better utilized.

It’s an argument that was even pushed forward, on Wednesday, by Peter MacKay.

In a scrum with reporters prior to a Tory caucus meeting, the justice minister claimed that there are already sections in the criminal code that do allow police to make preventative arrests when they believe — on reasonable grounds — that a terrorist activity will be carried out.

"There are already some pretty robust measures that we can use…allow for the type of preventive … interventions — if I can use that word — for the police," he told reporters, according to CBC News.

“We’re [reviewing existing laws in] a way that is really focused on not only thresholds, but the practical application of the current sections, and whether they’re sufficient.”

Last week, Yahoo Canada News spoke to University of Toronto law professor Kent Roach who referenced his blog post — published at Just Security — where he also argued that “the issue appears to be the enforcement of the criminal law rather than the need for more criminal law.”

"In these debates, it should not be forgotten that Canada has legal provisions that allow preventive arrests and peace bonds to be imposed on suspected terrorists," wrote Roach.

"These provisions are infrequently used, and in many cases, a terrorist prosecution where the accused face reverse-onuses to be released on bail would be preferable. Bail in Canada can be denied on both public safety and public confidence grounds."

[ Related: Anti-Muslim bullying on rise after Canada attacks, group says ]

Nevertheless, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson has asked easier access to peace bonds and for lower evidence thresholds for court orders.

It looks like the Tories will give him that.

The Harper government also appears poised to introduce new rules which would allow officials to remove websites or Internet posts that support the “proliferation of terrorism” in Canada.

"There’s no question that the whole issue around radicalization and the type of material that is often used that we think is inappropriate, and we think quite frankly contribute to — again this is my word — the poisoning of young minds, that this is something that needs to be examined,” MacKay said.

Meanwhile, both federal opposition parties are urging caution before implementing any new legislation.

"Before we say the solution to the problem is to give [security officials] more tools, make sure they know and are using the ones that they have," Mulcair said last week.

And Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to create an all-party national security committee to monitor how any new security powers are exercised.

"Keeping Canadians safe in a way consistent with Canadian values is one of our highest responsibilities,” Trudeau told the House of Commons, according to the National Post.

“In order to do that, we must ensure both the security of Canadians and the protection of their rights.”

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