National security in Canada has proved to be an ideology of a practice that during the 1950's and 60's, had many Canadians skeptical. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was responsible for this skepticism because they had used their power and authority to spy on Canadians. At the time there was much Cold War paranoia about communism and atomic bombs, however this is just an excuse. The RCMP had no right to spy on Canadians. .
Yet, the tight security surveillance provided by the RCMP was no simply just officers fulfilling their job requirements. What they were doing was an order from higher levels of government; cabinet directives, the Prime Minister's Office, and the interdepartmental Security Panel. Therefore, the Canadian government wanted the RCMP to spy on the public. The RCMP was responsible for spying on individuals and groups in Canada who were deemed as "communist threats". The spied on high school and university students, gays and lesbians, trade unionists, and left wing political groups; including the New Democratic Party and the CCF. .
The RCMP even went as far as sharing the information, they found while spying, with other social groups. These groups would in return help out the RCMP with information.
This was just wrong because the RCMP and the social groups were collecting very private and personal information about the people they spied on. This was a contradiction to many people's democratic rights. .
What the RCMP did during the 1950's and 60's was wrong. Not only was national security made a mockery of by the Canadian government, but what the RCMP did was socially and morally unacceptable to Canadian citizens.
