Five things to know about developments with the federal anti-terror bill

OTTAWA – Five things to know about developments Wednesday in the debate about the federal government’s proposed anti-terrorism bill:

— The government says it is working on a means of better monitoring Canadian intelligence agencies — more than four years after having committed to do so. Opposition parties have criticized the government for not bolstering security oversight in Bill C-51, introduced last month.

— NDP Leader Tom Mulcair accused the government of trying to limit planned committee hearings on the bill, saying it was “reckless and irresponsible to try to ram it through.”

— Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said the opposition was attacking the credibility of security officers working to protect the public.

— Hearings on the bill are expected to begin next month.

— The National Union of Public and General Employees, which has about 340,000 members, criticized the legislation and said the government was using it to drum up Conservative support before a federal election.

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