June 11, 2026
Maple syrup, but make it surveillance
Petition to Withdraw Canada's Bill C-22
Canada’s privacy bill is getting roasted as people beg MPs to hit the brakes
TLDR: A petition is urging Canada to scrap Bill C-22 over fears it would let the government collect sensitive online records from ordinary people and pressure services to weaken privacy protections. Commenters are furious, calling it dangerous, comparing it to the Patriot Act, and urging Canadians to loudly contact their elected officials.
A petition demanding Canada withdraw Bill C-22 has turned into a full-on comment-section alarm bell, with readers calling the proposal everything from "horrific" to a quiet step toward "no privacy anymore." In plain English, critics say the bill could let the government force major digital services to keep records about everyone’s online activity for up to a year, even if they aren’t suspected of doing anything wrong. Commenters are especially fired up over fears that encrypted apps, email, banking tools, and cloud storage could all get dragged into the mess.
And wow, the mood is not calm. One commenter practically grabbed the community by the collar and shouted: make noise, call your Member of Parliament, raise a stink. Another piled on with a warning that this is just the start, linking it to broader fears about future internet rules. For non-Canadians dropping into the thread confused, someone asked the big obvious question: is this basically Canada’s version of the U.S. Patriot Act? That comparison alone tells you where the temperature is.
There’s also a darkly comic streak running through the discussion. One especially brutal post rattled off Canada’s recession, housing crisis, youth unhappiness, and even the country’s Stanley Cup drought like a stand-up routine with despair as the punchline. Even the simple "Signed, thanks for sharing" replies feel loaded here — less casual click, more digital barricade moment. The article is serious, but the comments are where the real drama lives: panic, cynicism, activism, and gallows humor all fighting for top spot.
Key Points
- •The petition asks the House of Commons to withdraw Bill C-22 or vote against it at all stages.
- •The petition says Bill C-22 would allow designated providers to retain Canadians' metadata for up to one year without suspicion or investigation.
- •It states the bill's definition of electronic service provider is broad enough to cover services such as encrypted messaging apps, VPNs, email providers, banking apps, and cloud storage services.
- •The petition says the Minister of Public Safety could compel providers to implement interception capabilities or technical assistance measures, which it argues could weaken encryption.
- •The petition calls for future lawful-access legislation to exclude suspicionless bulk metadata retention and to explicitly prohibit requirements that weaken or break encryption.