Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino yesterday lost a key vote on a cellphone search bill..According to Blacklock's Reporter, nine of 12 members of the Senate national security committee rejected his proposal to designate “reasonable general concern” as justification to search electronic devices at border crossings..“We did not have one witness except the Minister and the officials say this was a good idea,” said Senator Mobina Jaffer (B.C.). The Senator said racial profiling is so commonplace she has personally been referred to secondary examination by the Canada Border Services Agency..Bill S-7 An Act To Amend The Customs Act would permit border agents with a “reasonable general concern” of criminality to demand travelers surrender passwords for searches of cellphones, tablets and laptops under threat of having mobile devices seized by the Agency. Senator Jaffer sponsored a motion to substitute “general concern” with “reasonable grounds to suspect,” a higher threshold..“I am very concerned about this,” said Senator Jaffer. Supporters noted the higher “reasonable grounds to suspect” threshold is currently required by mail inspectors and handlers of drug-sniffing dogs..“If the agent escorting the dog is bound to have a ‘reasonable suspicion’ to sniff the luggage I think an agent must at least have similar grounds to sniff through my computer,” said Senator Pierre Dalphond (Que.), a former federal judge. Bill S-7 as originally drafted was “absurd,” he said..“It’s a pretty low threshold,” agreed Senator David Richards (N.B.), adding: “There is always a personal bias. I am very afraid of this bill.”.“I have my whole life in this, all my personal information with my family,” said Senator Richards, holding his cellphone. “I tend to suspect anything that allows a stranger to look through it.”.Advocates including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association predicted S-7 as originally written would face certain legal challenges..“The standard that is provided for in the legislation is not likely to survive a Supreme Court challenge,” said Senator Hassan Yussuff (Ont.). “That is the dilemma.”.Minister Mendicino in May 30 testimony at the Senate committee defended his bill as reasonable. “A novel threshold does not give officers carte blanche to examine personal digital devices,” said Mendicino..The bill followed a 2020 Alberta Court of Appeal ruling that struck down completely random cellphone searches as unconstitutional. The Court was told border agents looked for indicators in searching electronic devices including whether travelers seemed “overly friendly,” avoided eye contact, appeared to sweat too much or traveled with a large amount of luggage.
