Chief counsel at Arar inquiry wants new model for deportations

OTTAWA -- The government and its intelligence officers can't be trusted to always get it right when they claim somebody is a national-security risk, the chief counsel at the Arar inquiry said yesterday, proposing a system for independent lawyers to vigorously challenge evidence at secret deportation hearings. Paul Cavalluzzo, who has been grilling RCMP and CSIS witnesses in both public and secret hearings in the case of Ottawa software engineer Maher Arar, said the procedures adopted by the inquiry could serve as a model for the way courts deal with attempts by the government to deport individuals as security threats. Current deportation proceedings -- secret court hearings closed to the individuals and their lawyers -- do not adequately protect the rights of people who can be kicked out of the country on flimsy evidence, Mr. Cavalluzzo told a news conference.

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