NSA leaker Edward Snowden addresses Toronto school from Russia

Karolyn Coorsh, CTVNews.ca Published Monday, February 2, 2015 10:18AM EST Last Updated Monday, February 2, 2015 9:00PM EST

U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden addressed hundreds of high school students at a world affairs conference held Monday night at a Toronto private school.

The former NSA contractor was the keynote speaker at the annual World Affairs Conference, which was organized by students from Upper Canada College and Branksome Hall in Toronto.

The moderated discussion, dubbed Privacy vs. Security: A Discussion of Personal Privacy in the Digital Age, saw Snowden answer questions via video teleconference from Russia, where he now lives in asylum. He was joined by journalist Glenn Greenwald via video link.

Approximately 900 community members mostly students -- attended the event, which was also livestreamed on UCCs website. The Q&A lasted approximately 90 minutes.

Snowden fled the U.S. in 2013 after leaking thousands of classified documents. Greenwald, then a journalist for a British daily newspaper, worked with Snowden to expose American espionage secrets. The leak sparked a global discussion on government, mass surveillance and privacy.

Since then, Snowden has worked with civil liberties groups and lectured on privacy rights.

During Mondays Q&A, Snowden touched on Canadas new anti-terror legislation, warning Canadian citizens to be very careful when government tries to set up such powers.

The new legislation, tabled last Friday, would give the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) powers to interfere in suspected terrorists activities on Canadian soil, including disrupting bank transactions and travel plans to thwart a terror attack.

Once we let these powers get rolling, its very difficult to stop that pull through, Snowden said.

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden addresses Toronto school from Russia