House passes revised security certificate bill

Liberal MPs joined the Tories on Wednesday to pass revised legislation on Canada's controversial security certificates.

The bill, passed by a vote of 196 to 71, with the NDP and Bloc Québécois opposed, now goes to the Senate.

The certificates allow the government to detain and deport non-Canadians who are deemed a threat to national security. In some cases, detainees have been held for six years without charge and without access to the alleged evidence against them.

Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the previous security-certificate law, calling the indefinite detention of foreign nationals unconstitutional. The court gave Parliament one year to come up with an alternative.

The new bill would improve bail procedures and permit special, security-cleared lawyers to attend the secret security-certificate hearings, challenge government evidence and protect the rights of the accused.

Critics have said the changes don't go far enough.