by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

A few days after those great metal birds slammed into the two big towers, Canadian lawmakers swiftly slapped together a new anti-terrorism law, otherwise known as Bill C-36. Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski (before he was sacked for expense account issues) likened it to Orwell's 1984 and a Senate Committee gave it thumbs down, but the law went through nonetheless.

Detractors bemoan that the law defines terrorism in a way that encompasses political protest or labour strikes. The law also irks many with its provisions for "preventative arrest," which means 72 hours in the slammer for those suspected of being terrorists without being formally accused of a crime. Critics also bashed the law for limiting access to information and privacy. However, the law came with a "sunset" provision which meant that it had to be revised after three years.

Well, three years are up, and the Quebec Human Rights League is hosting a star-studded conference at UQÀM on Nov. 26 and 27 to explore the problems and hopefully pressure the government to re-do the law with more leg room for human rights.

Among those hitting the podium are Maher Arar, the Canadian detained by Syria for a year on suspicion of being a terrorist, as well as Peter Leuprecht, former dean of McGill's Faculty of Law. Ben Hayes of the British civil liberties organization Statewatch and Jameel Jaffer of the American Civil Liberties Union are among the many others slated to speak.

André Paradis, who is organizing the conference for the Human Rights League, doesn't believe Ottawa plans to ease any restrictions in the upcoming revision. "I think there's American pressure to put in harsher measures," he says. "For example, Canada is trying to figure out how they can do what the U.S. is asking concerning the establishment of a list of passengers that would be refused on aircraft."

Paradis notes that the American no-fly list has already led to much confusion, inconvenience and a major lawsuit. "In the States the ACLU is suing the U.S. government and airlines for harassment suffered by tens of thousands of passengers whose names were on lists," he says. "Senator Ted Kennedy was detained for interrogation five times because there's another person with that name on their list. The list was initially meant to be small but it's up to 30,000 names now."

Paradis also worries about other invasive new measures. "There's the proposal to force Internet providers to keep all electronic communications and for cell phone companies to keep a trace on cell phone calls so that police could access them, but we think there's already a possibility for the police to get a court order to get it. This would be forcing the ISP to collect huge amounts of confidential information about citizens."

The law's preventative detention clause has also led to a crackdown, especially on refugee claimants, who have been subject to what Paradis describes as "secret trials with no right of appeal."

Paradis hopes that any attempts to beef up the restrictive law will be shot down by a beefed-up NDP and the Bloc Québécois, which opposed C-36 at its onset. For conference information dial 849-7717.