OTTAWA – A lawyer appointed to probe federal arguments about the legality of tracking Canadian terror suspects overseas says the Supreme Court of Canada should reject the government’s plea to hear the matter.
Ottawa lawyer Gordon Cameron – the amicus curiae, or friend of the high court – says in a written submission it is “not an appropriate case” for the justices to examine.
The federal government has asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, saying the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has been left in the dark about the law governing efforts to monitor suspected Canadian extremists abroad.
Federal lawyers say lower courts made “significant errors” in dealing with the sensitive matter.
Cameron, appointed by the court to respond to the federal arguments, notes the government recently introduced legislation that would explicitly allow CSIS to seek a warrant to investigate a security threat beyond Canada’s borders.
He says if the high court decides to hear the case against his advice, it should wait “a reasonable period” to gauge the legislation’s effect.
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