Feeling tired and cranky? I know I have been today. And I wanted nothing more than a nice, cold, frosty beverage when I left work, in particular a bottle of Phillips IPA (brewed in beautiful, scenic downtown Esquimalt), possibly Canada's best brew. But alas, my local liquor outlet was out of stock. So I'm making do with a subsitute.
But, that's not all that has me feeling tired and cranky. So, what else, you ask? Well, maybe the amount ink spilled, trees sacrificed, and bandwidth exceeded on commentary regarding the weekend arrest of 17 Canadians suspected of terrorist activities.
This site is no exception. Just look at the number of diaries on the subject today and over the past few days.
So, think you can handle one more? More on the flip.
I'm tired and cranky about all the wild speculation, the possible conspiracy scenarios, and the perpetuation by the MSM of certain myths.
Like the myth that this incident is a 'Loss of Canadian Innocence'. To which I have one word: bullshit. As someone who: lived in Montreal and elsewhere in the Province of Quebec during the decade or so of FLQ activity; someone who lived (and still lives) in British Columbia at the time of the Air India and Narita Airport bombings, and the subsequent two decades of investigations, trials and inquiries; and as someone who personally knows someone who became a Canadian terrorist I have lived with the reality of homegrown Canadian terrorism for over half my life, thank you very much. And there are millions of Canadians like me. fishhead attempts to put that myth to rest in an excellent diary titled Canada: Not that innocent.
Another repeated speculation is that all of this is a dog & pony show put on by the Conservative Stephen Harper government for the benefit of his good buddy Dubya. The reality is that these arrests are the culmination of an investigation begun in 2004 under the Liberal Paul Martin government. So, I guess that would mean that Paul Martin and the Liberal Party set all of this up purely for the benefit of a political opponent down the road. Right. Even I couldn't wear that much tin-foil without passing out for the heat. Or that Harper has engineered the arrests to placate American concerns about Canadian security, leading to less restrictive measures at the Canada-US border. Doesn't look like that's quite working out either. Northwatch attempts to put that to rest in an equally excellent diary titled The Canadian Bomb Plot: Conspiracy Ho!.
I prefer to take a wait and see approach. Let this run it's course through the Canadian justice system, let's see what evidence is presented. Something may well be burning, there may indeed be a stench about the whole situations, but at this point we don't even know enough to identify the particular odour.
But, even having said all that there remains the very strong possibility that Harper and his Conservative governement may use this situation to their advantage. Prompted by an appeal from fellow Kossack, easterling, I'd like to present a couple of issues, issues that are flying the below the radar of the Canadian MSM -- and if that's the case, they aren't even on the radar of the American MSM -- that may be affected by the overhyping, or that Harper may attempt to influence by letting the overhyping of this homegrown terrorist case grow. And grow.
The first issue is Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act, also referred to as Bil C-36, passed in rapid haste shortly after 9/11. AN overview of the act can be seen here. This act is currently under review by both House of Commons and Senate committees.
"This is a law that puts our traditional notions of civil liberties at risk," said Larry Shaben, chair of the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities, who attended the meeting.
He was talking about C-36, the so-called "anti-terrorism" bill, up for review by House of Commons and Senate committees. The Commons review was launched in late 2005, but an election and a change of government threw a wrench in the works - the committee is set to report sometime this fall.
Oddly enough, while C-36 has gotten most of the heat in the debate over terrorism and civil liberties, the five-year-old law itself hasn't been terribly useful. C-36 has just one scalp on its belt: Canadian Mohammad Momin Khawaja is accused of taking part in a failed bombing conspiracy in Britain two years ago. His trial starts next year.
"My view is that the definition of terrorism in C-36 sets the bar pretty high for prosecutors," said Craig Forcese, a University of Ottawa law professor who studies state security law.
"It has to be an act of violent coercion motivated by politics, ideology or religion. They have to prove the act and the motivation, which makes it a lot easier for the defence."
Irregardless of any committee recommendations, Harper may move to strengthen the provisions of Bill C-36, particularly in light of the weekend arrests, as soon as he acheives his goal of majority government. Keep an eye on this.
And even more immediate is
"The committee is also reviewing the use of security certificates, a blunt-force anti-terror tool which predates C-36 and which the feds have wielded far more often than the anti-terror law. Security certificates are used against non-Canadian citizens - some of whom enjoy every right of citizenship short of the right to vote - considered by the state to be threats to public safety.
Their use is controversial because, pending deportation, people held under security certificates can be held indefinitely.
Five men are being held under security certificates now, all Muslims. Some have been held in prison without criminal charges for four to six years already.
So, what's the deal here. Three appeals regarding the use of these 'security certificates' are scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada on June 13th.
If you scroll here under 'List of Appeals Ready for Hearing', see files #30762, 30929, 31178 - Adil Charkaoui, Hassan Almrei, and Mohamed Harkat. You can read, and please do, more about them, their case, and security certificates here.
Charkaoui, a Montreal resident, has been in jail for 17 months after being arrested on suspicion of terrorism. He has been charged with no crime, and neither he, nor his lawyers, can see any of the evidence CSIS used to justify his arrest. The law says CSIS needs only to convince the solicitor general (currently Anne McLellan), and the minister of citizenship and immigration (currently Judy Sgro), that a person poses a security threat to Canada. If the two officials then sign for that person's immediate arrest and detention, regional police, RCMP officers, or both, step in and do it.
"It's a fundamentally flawed process that really cuts at the heart of the most basic of Canadian legal values, like the right to a fair trial, the right to know the evidence against you, the ability to actually conduct a credible cross-examination," said Riad Saloojee, executive director of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, at a small but news media-heavy rally in front of the federal court Monday afternoon. "They've done absolutely nothing to make Canada safer, All they've done is [they've] violated basic human rights standards and now, in the case of these five [men detained through security certificates], threatened to deport people to places where they would face imminent torture."
Sound familiar?
The danger here, and fear, is that the current terrorist case may either influence or put pressure on the SCC to uphold the use of security certificates. Fortunately someone spoke out about it today to the Canadian MSM.
The charges against 17 terrorist suspects in Ontario threaten to cast a pall over a landmark Supreme Court of Canada hearing next week, says a leading immigration lawyer.
Barbara Jackman says she's worried the climate of public apprehension could affect the high court as it considers a challenge to the security certificate system - a key legal tool used by the government to detain and evict some terrorist suspects from Canada.
"Judges are human beings, the same way anyone else is; obviously they read the news," Jackman said Tuesday.
"Of course it's going to impact in some way . . . . Any time there is an attempt to create a public hysteria on the part of the government, yeah, it does make (my) job harder."
Jackman represents Syrian-born Hassan Almrei, one of three men challenging the security certificate regime. The others are Algerian native Mohamed Harkat of Ottawa and Adil Charkaoui who came to Montreal from Morocco.
So, here is where the current terrorist case may likely intersect with the Harper neo-con agenda.
Please discuss. I've got to go and grab another beer.
Off topic sidebar: I did a double take when I got home and turned on CBC Newsworld this evening and there was Lynne Russell (yes, that Lynne Russell) reading the short news breaks. Which means she's in Canada, working and presumably living in the Toronto area. Anyone now when this happened?