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On Friday's live stream, David Menzies and Sheila Gunn Reid reacted to Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw touting the Liberal government's new Lawful Access Act alongside public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree.

The Lawful Access Act, introduced earlier this month, would give police and CSIS broadened powers to obtain peoples' digital information through new court orders requiring a lower evidentiary threshold. The bill mandates telecom companies to build and maintain technical capabilities to facilitate 'authorized access.'

The Lawful Access Act would also allow for warrantless "confirmation of service" demands to telecom providers. Critics slam it as a dangerous step toward mass surveillance, backdoor risks, and privacy erosion.

Sheila condemned the Act for infringing on Canadians' privacy and opening the door towards increased surveillance and government power. "What an Orwellian thing to call this piece of legislation, Lawful Access. Because what it really is, is warrantless access," she said.

"And they say they're hamstrung. By what? The Charter of Rights and Freedoms? Because that's what it sounds like, they're removing the Charter from this, their Charter obligations against warrantless search and seizure," Sheila continued.

The bill, still in the early stages of Parliament, faces mounting opposition from privacy advocates and civil liberties groups who warn it risks normalizing unchecked digital monitoring.

Privacy watchdogs point out that similar "lawful access" frameworks in other countries have repeatedly led to mission creep and abuse by authorities far beyond serious crime probes.