OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney says the privacy rights of Canadians will be respected under new anti-terrorism legislation that would allow more information-sharing with the United States.
Blaney has been discussing security issues in London with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and ministerial counterparts from Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
He and Johnson talked about strengthening bilateral information exchanges, including case-specific sharing on citizens suspected of terrorism-related activity.
Blaney says he pointed out that the new bill would allow sharing of information from Canada’s no-fly list with close allies.
But the minister says that doesn’t mean handing U.S. officials the full list of people suspected of being a threat to the skies.
Blaney says only information about high-risk travellers would be shared under a memorandum of understanding that respects Canadian privacy law.