Michel Juneau-Katsuya told a House of Commons committee in French that foreign agencies try to recruit elected officials, who may not even be aware they’re being targeted.
Privacy experts say police and government use of “extremely intrusive” spyware needs to be tightly controlled, and the technology should be outlawed for the general Canadian public. But experts speaking to the committee Tuesday said that’s not the case and highlighted concerns with the industry as a whole, which has facilitated human rights abuses and state targeting of politicians, journalists and activists.
During his tenure between 2014 and 2022, Therrien called for Parliament to strengthen Canada’s privacy laws. In particular, he said privacy needs to be recognized as a fundamental human right under the law.