C-279 – An Act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal organizations) – will allow the government to keep a public list of criminal organizations.
Groups can be put on the list at the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness if they have reason to believe they’re involved with the activity of organized crime. Anyone put on the list will be able to request they be removed from it, and the Minister is required to inform them of their decision.
If the Minister decides not to remove someone from the list they have the option to appeal the decision before a judge. The judge will start by consulting the Minister privately on the evidence used to put the group on the list. The group will be shown the evidence as long as it doesn’t cause problems with national security or put someone at risk. In either of those cases the group won’t get to know what’s being used against them. The group will be allowed to make their arguments for why they shouldn’t be on the list and the judge will decide if the Minister made the right choice. It’s worth noting here that the judge will be allowed to use any evidence they feel is appropriate, even if that evidence would normally be inadmissible under Canadian law.
Every five years the list will be reviewed to check if the organizations on it should still be there.
Progress of C-279
C-279 is currently outside of the Order of Precedence.