We’ve all heard of helicopter parents, hovering over their little ones to protect them from every scrape and fall. Can governments, sincere in their motive, overprotect their citizens? The Liberal government has introduced Bill C-2 (Strong Borders Act) and Bill C-9 (The Combatting Hate Act) as a solution to the social turmoil in our nation. But is their effort an overreaction to outside pressure, or a purposeful distraction from other internal issues they aren’t managing? Now, we have bill C-12 as an attempt to circumvent some of the legitimate protest around bill C-2.
C-2, C-9, and now C-12 have been introduced in response to the pressure from President Trump regarding Canada’s poor border security. While the bill may make Americans happier, does the new bill do any better at finding the balance between security and rights for Canadians?
On October 8, 2025, Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety, introduced Bill C-12. The bill, called Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, claims to strengthen immigration and border security, protect Canadians, and to keep our communities safe. Government materials state that it is in response to rising pressures at Canada’s frontiers and the growing concerns over criminal networks and illicit cross-border flows.
According to GHY International (George H. Young), a North American customs brokerage and global trade service company founded in 1901, C-12 focuses on four key areas:
- Broadening customs powers – it would expand authorities under the Customs Act to inspect and detain goods for export, plus give the CBSA greater access at ports and warehouses to interdict trafficked or dangerous goods.
- Strengthening immigration document controls – it allows the government to suspend, cancel, or alter immigration documents in certain circumstances, and enhance cancellation powers in cases of misrepresentation or security concerns.
- Improved claim processing rules – it introduces new criteria to handle surges of asylum or protection claims and to streamline admissibility decisions.
- Combatting illicit flows – it accelerates cross-government efforts against money laundering, fentanyl precursor chemicals, and criminal networks.
Those in favour, see this bill as filling gaps left by C-2, working to adapt to changing security and immigration challenges. It is a backbone for the border and immigration regime, integrating law enforcement in a robust and responsive way. Those opposing, are focused on the lack of clear safeguards, the overreach of enhanced powers, the undue discretion, and the harm to legitimate migrants or refugees.
A broad coalition of civil liberties groups, led by Amnesty International, and including data privacy, refugee, migrant rights, and gender justice organizations have denounced the bill, asserting that it fails to resolve the human rights and refugee protection issues hidden in bill C-2. Churches concerned with justice issues should pay attention to this bill and the potential impact on those they serve.
Tim McSorley, national coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), states: “Bill C-12 does not fix Bill C-2; it fast tracks some of the most egregious aspects, while still moving forward with the rest. Our government has made it abundantly clear that they will continue to fight for every privacy-violating measure Bill C-2 still contains and are only introducing Bill C-12 to get restrictions on migrant and refugee rights adopted sooner.”
Matt Hatfield, Executive Director of OpenMedia, stated that “The story of this legislative package is the same today as it was on day one of Bill C-2’s introduction; it’s about pleasing President Trump…Canadians reject this multi-layered concession of our rights and freedoms to American pressure, and we expect lawmakers to resoundingly vote against both bills.”
Karen Cocq, spokesperson for the Migrant Rights Network, said: “The government is trying to skirt around the overwhelming opposition to C-2 by repackaging it as something new. But C-12 leaves intact the measures to block refugee hearings, impose arbitrary retroactive one-year bars, and grant ministers mass immigration status-cancellation powers. Prime Minister Carney is showing that his government continues to be aligned with conservative Trump-like anti-migrant sentiment. But civil society groups remain united in rejecting this agenda and calling for the withdrawal of both bills.”
Other voices have their own concerns. Nick Boyce of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition says “Bill C-12’s accelerated scheduling will trigger faster illegal drug market innovations, making Canada’s already-lethal unregulated drug supply even more volatile…This legislation will make the toxic unregulated drug crisis worse while wasting resources that should go to the things we need, like housing, healthcare, and harm reduction.”
Is this fearmongering? C-12 would amend the Customs Act to secure our borders against illicit drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and auto theft. It does this by obligating operators at ports of entry to provide, equip, and maintain facilities for the administration and enforcement of the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) so its officers can examine goods destined for export.
It would amend the Oceans Act to add security-related activities to Coast Guard duties so that they conduct patrols, plus collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence for security purposes. It enhances the ability of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to share information on registered sex offenders with domestic and international law enforcement partners.
It introduces new eligibility rules for asylum seekers and changes how they are received, processed, and decided. Authorities would be able to cancel, suspend, or change immigration documents and to stop accepting new applications. Client information would be shared with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), and with federal, provincial, and territorial partners.
The Minister of Public Safety doesn’t do much to stem concerns. He says “the government of Canada is committed to keeping our communities safe and working with our American partners to further strengthen our border. Bill C-12 will help advance key legislative changes needed now that will further equip our border and law enforcement agencies with the authorities and resources they need. We are ready to work with our colleagues in Parliament to ensure this important legislation becomes law.
$1.3 billion will be invested in keeping communities safe on both sides of the border. $200 million will be designated to Public Safety Canada to support enhanced gathering of intelligence on transnational organized crime, sharing information across Canada and with US law enforcement. $743.5 million will go to support the integrity of the asylum system, increasing processing capacity. 1,000 more RCMP officers and 1,000 more CBSA officers will join reinforcement efforts.
Where do fear and faith fit into this? For years, churches in Canada sent missionaries overseas to reach the world for Jesus. The news is clear. God has reaped a harvest and is sending many of those reached back to Canada to reach the unreached here. Others, also displaced, are arriving to hear the good news for the first time. Christians are under heavy persecution in much of the world. It would be a shame if we slammed the door too quickly and failed to offer the welcome and hospitality the followers of Jesus are to be known for.
Helicopter governments can only protect us from so much. Eventually, we have to trust God and what he is doing in our world.
Jack Taylor served as a missionary for 18 years in Kenya and as a pastor of a multi-cultural church in Vancouver for 23 years. He is the founder of New Hope Community Services Society and currently works as the academic coordinator between Trinity Western University and Kurumbuka Leadership Solutions in Rwanda. He is the author of 23 books (see some at jackataylor.com). He is also a credentialed marriage coach (1heartcoaching.com). He has been married to Gayle for 48 years.
Dear Jack,
You make it sound like the current immigration and refugee rules are perfectly fine and appropriate. In fact they are not and they do not have enough teeth to ensure that abuse and exploitation by criminals and cons is made more difficult. I know there is abuse in the system and I do not know what the percentage is. Some very competent and diligent researcher are needed to figure out what the percentage of abuse is!!!
I know of one case personally of a person who came claiming political asylum because he felt persecuted by the state because the government rules went against what he wanted to do and he did not want to obey the state rules. He was asked by the state to come to court to explain his reasons and why he violated the country rules. Instead of doing that he went to the next country and came to Canada. He came on a visitor visa and then stayed. He claimed to be single when in fact he was married. He than brought his wife and children to Canada as well. He took advantage of the health care system and cost the government more than a million dollars in health care fees because he wanted a second opinion on everything. After the federal and provincial governments were fighting with them for 10 years he was finally deported back to his home country. He cost the government millions in costs that were totally unnecessary because he used every possible objection rule that he could find and was able to drag it out that long.
If the new rules had been in place 10 years ago then he could have been deported when it was discovered that he lied on his initial bogus refugee claim. It would have saved the governments millions in costs.
I do understand that this is only one case that I happen to know about it and it really ticks me off that this was even possible. The question is how many more of these cases exist that take advantage of the kind caring Canadian system. Due to privacy rules it will be very difficult to find out the absolute truth here but we do need stronger rules to protect Canada.