OTTAWA - Canada's public safety minister says he hopes the Liberals listen to former colleagues calling for preservation of anti-terror measures passed after 9-11.
Stockwell Day insists the global terrorist threat has increased, and scrapping the provisions would send the wrong message to both allies and extremists. Three former Liberal ministers emerged Wednesday to oppose their party's position on a pair of contentious anti-terror measures.
Former public safety minister Anne McLellan, former finance minister John Manley and former justice minister Irwin Cotler said the provisions should not be allowed to lapse as Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has suggested.
The Criminal Code now allows preventative arrest of someone suspected of planning a terrorist act, and closed investigative hearings where judges can demand evidence on suspected plots.
The measures, which have a built-in sunset clause, could expire March 1.
