The timing couldn’t be better.
With many Quebecers in an uproar over police spying on La Presse reporter Patrick Lagacé, McGill University on Wednesday will welcome whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is wanted in the United States for giving classified material on U.S. surveillance programs to journalists.
Speaking via video link, Snowden, a former government contractor at the U.S. National Security Agency, will discuss surveillance in Canada.
The free public lecture is being organized by Media@McGill, an interdisciplinary hub focused on the study of contemporary media.
It will take place on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Leacock Building, 855 Sherbrooke St. W. Seats will be first come, first served, with a lineup starting at 5:30 p.m.
Snowden’s leaks revealed how the U.S. and other countries monitor global private communications. He is now living in exile in Russia to avoid prosecution in the U.S.
Last month, Snowden criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not repealing Canada’s anti-terror law.
On Monday, Snowden tweeted about the Lagacé surveillance, quoting a Montreal Gazette story and warning journalists that police are spying on them to identify sources.
Snowden spoke via video link at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville last fall.
For more information on his McGill lecture, visit Media@McGill’s website.
