Canada government to dilute controversial anti-terror bill

By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government will soften controversial draft anti-terror legislation after critics said it could be used to target people taking part in peaceful protests. The move, signalled on Friday, represents a significant concession by the governing right-of-centre Conservatives, who until now have refused to countenance changes to a bill they say will combat the threat of "jihadist terrorism". The Conservatives, facing a tough fight to retain power in October's election, portray the opposition as soft in the fight against terror. As it stands, the bill says "lawful" protests are not deemed to threaten national security. Opposition legislators and other critics complain this means people participating in nonviolent civil disobedience could be singled out as unlawful protesters. Ottawa will remove the word "lawful", said a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney. This, he added, would make clear that the bill "does not target advocacy, protest, dissent and artistic expression". Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said the government acknowledged some people feared the bill could limit the right to protest. "If by making this change we can alleviate those concerns and put the focus back where it belongs, on people who want to harm to Canada and Canadians, then I think it's a modest change that reflects what ... we've been hearing in Parliament," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. The bill also gives the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) spy agency more power to disrupt terror plots and allows information about possible threats to Canada's security to be shared among domestic security agencies. The spokesman for Blaney said the government plans to add wording to the bill to make clear that CSIS, until now purely an intelligence agency, will not be given the power to arrest people. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway and David Gregorio)