Kenney: Conservative anti terror bill needs to walk a fine line

Will be interesting to see how the Government walks that fine line when the Bill is tabled Friday.

Kenney, given his strong belief in freedom of religion, will likely have weighed in during Cabinet and other discussions (his initial reaction to one of the periodic Quebec controversies over the niqab was more accommodating than his present positions):

There’s a fine line between legitimate religious expression and inciting terrorism, says Conservative cabinet minister Jason Kenney.

It’s that line the government will be walking – carefully – in its new anti-terrorism bill, expected to be unveiled Friday.

The bill is the government’s long-awaited legislative response to two attacks carried out on Canadian soldiers last fall by men believed to have been influenced by radical Islam – attacks the government considers acts of terrorism.

Though police already have the power to go after those suspecting of being on the verge of committing terrorist attacks, the new bill is partially aimed at stopping the seeds of those attacks from germinating altogether.

“Our objective is not to diminish legitimate expression of political or religious views, but rather incitement to terrorism – and there is a fine line there that the legislation will try to draw,” Kenney said in an interview Tuesday.

“Obviously there are some malevolent religious influences that can add to the process of radicalization towards violent extremism, and we have to be extremely mindful of that.”

Kenney: Conservative anti terror bill needs to walk a fine line.