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The Liberal Party is ready to ignore gaps in Ottawas anti-terrorism bill and vote in its favour, while the NDP plans to put up a fight and could still oppose the proposed legislation.

The two parties were united in opposition to Canadas combat mission in Iraq last year, but they are heading in different directions in regards to Bill C-51, known as the Anti-Terrorism Act (2015).

CP Video Feb. 04 2015, 8:05 PM EST

After a caucus meeting on Wednesday, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau announced his party will support plans to beef up the powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP, and to criminalize the promotion of terrorism.

Mr. Trudeau said his priority will be to address the gaps in the bill. In particular, the Liberals will push for parliamentary oversight of Canadas national security agencies, and try to add a sunset clause that would force Parliament to evaluate the legislation before it is periodically re-enacted.

Mr. Trudeau said the Liberal Party will be willing to compromise during the current session of Parliament, and then promise to amend the legislation in its next election platform.

The current government can accept that Canadians want greater oversight and accountability, or it will give us the opportunity to offer that directly to Canadians in the upcoming election campaign, Mr. Trudeau said.

The NDP blasted the Liberals for giving a blank cheque to the Conservative government, which has clearly rejected calls to increase the oversight of Canadas national-security agencies.

The NDP says its still studying the legislation, but a party official said a majority of MPs currently oppose the bill. A final position will be taken next week.

In an interview, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair said he does not believe that a new balance between security and rights needs to be achieved. This notion that somehow there has to be this massive tradeoff, I dont believe that, he said. The whole purpose of fighting against terrorism is to make sure that people who want to take away our rights and freedoms arent the ones who wind up winning.

See the original post:
Liberals to support Conservative anti-terror bill, will address the gaps later