Canada

by Mia Rabson Source: The Winnipeg Free Press URL: [link] Date: January 19, 2010 Toews shuffled to plum Public Safety post

OTTAWA -- Manitoba senior cabinet minister Vic Toews was just sworn in this morning as Canada’s new Public Safety Minister. Toews has been the Treasury Board President since 2007 and was the Justice Minister for a year before that. He is the MP for Provencher, a role he’s held since 2000. Toews, 57, is replacing Ontario MP Peter Van Loan, who is moving to International Trade. In total Prime Minister Stephen Harper shuffled 10 of his cabinet ministers. His main front bench ministers are staying put -- Jim Flaherty in finance, John Baird in transport, Tony Clement in Industry, Peter MacKay in Defence and Lawrence Cannon in Foreign Affairs. Manitoba's other cabinet minister, Steven Fletcher, is staying put as the minister of state for democratic reform. Stockwell Day is being tapped to stick handle the upcoming hard times in Treasury Board. The job entails keeping a hold on the country's purse strings, and with a $56 billion deficit to overcome, the government's agenda will include a severe tightening of those purse strings in the months and likely even years to come.

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by Ian Macleod
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: October 5, 2009


OTTAWA — Canada's spy service has won permission to electronically spy on Canadians abroad, closing a loophole that prevented government security agents from monitoring citizens suspected as national security threats once they left the country.

A Federal Court ruling released Tuesday reveals the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was granted an emergency warrant earlier this year to intercept the overseas communications of two unidentified Canadians suspected as security threats.

Until then, CSIS had been largely restricted to domestic operations and its warrant authorizations stopped at the border, a festering complaint within the agency in an age of global terrorism and espionage.

While most details of the case remain secret, the unidentified individuals are suspected of engaging in "threats to the security of Canada ... while travelling outside of Canada."

The agency sought "urgent" permission from the court in January for warrants under the CSIS Act authorizing "intrusive investigative techniques" to be used against the pair outside of Canada. Justice Richard Mosley granted a three-month warrant and extended it in April for an additional nine months.

"As facts of the present application disclose, individuals who pose a threat to the security of Canada may move easily and rapidly from one country to another and maintain lines of communication with others of like mind," wrote Mosley in a highly censored version of his reasons released Tuesday.

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by Press Release
Source: Liberal Party of Canada Website
URL: [link]
Date: June 30, 2009


OTTAWA – The Harper Conservatives risk losing public faith in our anti-terrorism laws unless they explain to Canadians why powers designed to protect the public from terrorism were abused, Liberal Public Safety & National Security Critic Mark Holland said today.

Mr. Holland was commenting on the revelation that, for the second time in as many months, Canada’s spy agency was found to have withheld evidence from a federal court judge regarding the arrest of a foreign national being held on a national security certificate.

“Liberals have been clear that enforcement and application of our anti-terrorism laws must always comply with the rule of law and respect our Charter of Rights, so that no individuals or groups are subject to discriminatory treatment,” said Mr. Holland. “We now have two clear cases where CSIS failed to live up to their responsibility to share the full story with the court.”

Letters written by a federal court judge concerning security certificate hearings against Hassan Almrei show that the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service wrongly claimed that one informant had taken a lie-detector test, while failing to disclose that another informant had been “deceptive.” In May, CSIS was criticized for withholding damaging polygraph results for a key government source in a hearing against Mohamed Harkat.

“Protecting Canadians from terrorism cannot come at the cost of trampling on the civil liberties that we hold so dear,” said Mr. Holland. “We need to know why those entrusted with upholding our national security have abused their responsibility to provide the federal court with full disclosure behind the scenes.”

Under Canada’s anti-terrorism laws, foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities can be arrested if a federal judge orders a national security certificate following secret hearings where matters of national security are disclosed. The discovery of withheld or incorrect evidence comes following amendments to Canada’s anti-terrorism laws made in 2008 which allows for “special advocates” to represent terror suspects in secret hearings. These amendments were supported by Liberal MPs only after guarantees were made in law that no evidence that may have been obtained through torture would be admissible in the hearings.

“The Harper Conservatives owe Canadians an explanation on why these men have been detained for so long on the basis of incomplete evidence,” concluded Mr. Holland. “People everywhere are entitled to live in peace and security, but these freedoms must never come at the expense of anyone’s right to due process and a fair hearing.”

© Authorized by the Federal Liberal Agency of Canada, registered agent for the Liberal Party of Canada

by Unsigned Editorial
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: June 21, 2009


Is there a lesson to be gleaned from the bungled Canadian "terror" cases that have made news recently? Yes indeed. And more than one.

Last Thursday, a majority of Parliament's public safety committee (with Conservatives dissenting) urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to issue an apology and compensation to three Canadians – Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin – who were jailed and tortured in Syria. Chillingly, the committee also felt compelled to demand that the government issue a "clear ministerial directive" against swapping information with regimes that use torture.

And on the same day, the government announced it would finally comply with a federal court order to bring home Abousfian Abdelrazik from Sudan, where he has been stranded for six years.

In all these cases, Canadian security officials and police had grounds to wonder whether the men might be involved in terrorist activities. Their past associations or activities raised red flags. But none has been charged. That makes them innocent in the eyes of the law.

Yet even so, a Canadian document reportedly says Sudan jailed Abdelrazik "at our request," while the United States put him on a no-fly list and Ottawa trotted out excuse after excuse for not bringing him home. In the case of the three detained in Syria, Canadian officials fed foreign agencies unverified, inaccurate and inflammatory information that led to their torture or abuse.

In these cases, plus that of Maher Arar who also was detained in Syria and tortured, Canadian officials displayed alarming tendencies. They failed to give Muslim citizens the benefit of the doubt, they were too deferential to the Americans, they worked hand-in-glove with foreign actors known to abuse prisoners, they trafficked in shoddy information that exposed the detainees to danger, and they contracted out the dirty work of squeezing detainees for information.

Then there is Omar Khadr, abandoned by Ottawa to face trial for murder at the discredited Guantanamo Bay military tribunals, despite a federal court order that the government try to repatriate him after seven years in custody.

These cases began on the Liberals' watch, but the Harper government is reaping the inevitable political embarrassment that comes from hastily fingering Canadians as terrorists on flimsy grounds, from trafficking in bad information and from abandoning citizens abroad to their fate. Ottawa can do better. Parliament's public safety committee and federal court are right to demand a higher standard.

© Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2009

Press Conference: Deportation to Torture: Past, Present and Future

Parliament of Canada. April 23, 11:30-12:30 pm

Open to Public.

Speakers:

MP Wayne Marston -NDP Human Rights Critic
MP Dan McTeague –Liberal Party
Dr. Monia Mazigh -wife of Maher Arar and author
Kerry Pither- author of Dark Days
Yavar Hameed –Lawyer for Abousfian Abdelrazik
Sophie Harkat -wife of Mohamed Harkat, activist
Alex Neve- Amnesty International Secretary General

Room 752, 131 Queen Street Building
RSVP by April 21: Contact Maria Al-Masani 613-614-1916

by Individual UPR Submission, CANADA Source: International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) URL: N/A Date: September 5, 2008 Submission of Information by the ICLMG to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in relation to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Canada to take place in February 2009 Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Laws in Violation of International Human Rights Standards

The ICLMG 1. The ICLMG is a pan-Canadian coalition of civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States. The coalition brings together 38 international development and human rights NGO’s, unions, professional associations, faith groups, environmental and refugee organizations. Its purpose is to monitor the impact of anti-terrorism legislation on human rights standards, to advocate against abuses and violations, and in certain cases, to take up the cause of those who have become innocent victims of such abuses. Methodology and Consultation 2. The ICLMG, with its 38 member organizations, serves as a round-table for discussion and exchange, and to provide a point of reflection and cooperative action. The ICLMG has participated in many conferences, advocated with government officials and before parliamentary committees, was an intervenor before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Security Certificate case (Adil Charkaoui versus A.G. Canada), an intervenor in the O’Connor Commission relating to Maher Arar and the Iaccobucci Commission relating to Messrs. Almalki, El Maati and Nurredin.

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by "TASC" - [email] Source: TASC Email List URL: N/A Date: August 25, 2008 (please forward far and wide) Join the Fall 2008 Caravan to End Canadian Involvement in Torture, Southwestern Ontario, October 17-22, 2008 Join a nonviolent community on wheels for part or all of our journey as we travel through dozens of communities in a large triangular area (Toronto to Kitchener-Waterloo to London, then through Tillsonburg, Simcoe and Welland, up through Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Hamilton and Mississauga) October 17-22.

The Caravan intends to expose and challenge the many ways in which the Canadian government is increasingly involved, both directly and indirectly, in policies and practices that result in the torture of human beings. While it is possible that a federal election may be underway during our caravan, we see this as a good opportunity to challenge all parties to commit to ending ALL forms of Canadian complicity in torture. This email has details on getting involved with the caravan, why it is taking place, a city-by-city schedule, details on providing financial support for the caravan, and a list of demands. If you plan on joining us please let us know as soon as possible for so that we can cover the necessary logistics from this end. Thanks! For a 3-minute youtube promo of the fall caravan (with highlights from our first caravan), see [link] Additional footage of the spring caravan is available at: [link] [link] [link] [link]



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Source: International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
URL: N/A
Date: September 14, 2008


International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) Individual
UPR Submission – Canada, February 2009

Submission of Information by the ICLMG to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in relation to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Canada to take place in February 2009

Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Laws in Violation of International Human Rights Standards

The ICLMG

1. The ICLMG is a pan-Canadian coalition of civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States. The coalition brings together 38 international development and human rights NGO’s, unions, professional associations, faith groups, environmental and refugee organizations. Its purpose is to monitor the impact of anti-terrorism legislation on human rights standards, to advocate against abuses and violations, and in certain cases, to take up the cause of those who have become innocent victims of such abuses.

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by SHEEMA KHAN Source: The Globe and Mail URL: N/A Date: August 7, 2008 Canada fully understands and appreciates and shares the United States' concerns with regard to security. However, the Canadian government has every right to go to bat when it believes one of its citizens has been treated unfairly by another government. - Stephen Harper, Jan. 26, 2007

These words, spoken after settlement of the Maher Arar affair, were crafted to allay suspicions about Mr. Harper's willingness to stand up to the Bush administration on matters of Canadian sovereignty. However, in view of Ottawa's defence of the gulag that is Guantanamo, and its fear of upsetting Washington by allowing Canadian citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik to return from Sudan, we can be forgiven for suspecting that our PM is indeed beholden to George W. Bush. For many immigrants to this great land, the post-9/11 era is one of insecurity, in which they wonder: What value is my Canadian passport when travelling abroad? Will my government stand up for my basic rights, or trade them to curry favour with certain regimes?

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by Robert Fisk Source: The Independent (UK) URL: [link] Date: April 5, 2008 Westerners assume that anyone with a Canadian passport is safe

I was given the chance to talk to 600 Muslim Canadians a few days ago. The dinner was in an Ottawa banqueting room and the guests also included the imam of the Ottawa mosque, the Ottawa chief of police and sundry uniformed Canadian army officers. The imam sat between me and the Canadian capital's top cop – a genuinely decent guy who wanted Muslim Canadians to regard him as a friend – and we were even able to joke about the reality of those "random checks" which Muslims of Middle Eastern origin and a certain R Fisk seem to receive at North American airports. All well and good, then, until I got up to speak. I warned the audience they might not like all they heard from me. And sure enough, when I told the audience that they were perfectly at liberty to condemn Israel and America – indeed, that they should condemn both when they abuse human rights, occupy other people's countries and shoot innocent civilians – but that I wanted to know why I so rarely heard them condemn the vicious police states in the Middle East and other areas of south-west Asia from which they originally came, I was greeted with silence. A smattering of Muslim diplomats sat like statues, thus identifying the cruelty of their regimes. The only immediate applause came when I remarked that the moment Western soldiers started shooting at Muslims in Muslim lands, it was time for the soldiers to withdraw.

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