Court orders Ottawa to let Abdelrazik return to Canada

[Smallc]

No matter what we think of an individual Canadian, he or she cannot be denied entry into their own country.

Correct. Rules are put in place to protect all of us, and we shouldn't be making exceptions....it's a dangerous game.

[Alta4ever]

Quite true. Regardless of the theories spouted by a few individuals here, a citizen's right to enter the country is not just guaranteed by statute law, it's constitutionally provided. From the Constitution Act, 1982:

No matter what we think of an individual Canadian, he or she cannot be denied entry into their own country.

I see nothing in the consitution about having a right to board airlines though.

[Smallc]

He has the right to come back, and Canada has to facilitate that return if he can't do it on his own.

[Alta4ever]

He has the right to come back, and Canada has to facilitate that return if he can't do it on his own.

No we don't.

[Smallc]

The court seems to disagree...and I trust their judgment over yours.

[g_bambino]

Easily solved by extinguishing citizenship, not uncommon in years past:

That is one alternative, yes.

[g_bambino]

I see nothing in the consitution about having a right to board airlines though.

You're right, there is no such provision. But I don't believe the court stipulated how Mr. Abdelrazik was to be transported to Canada.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

The government is playing with bad optics in this one.

[tango]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/parting-shots/article1187927/

Just a few minutes into the session, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson blew up everybody’s news agenda – including perhaps his own – by announcing in a few short words that the government would be complying with a court decision ordering the return of Abousfian Abdelrazik from Sudan. “The government will comply with the court order,” Mr. Nicholson said in response to questions from Liberal MP Irwin Cotler.

...

It's reassuring to know that Harper will obey a court order.

[capricorn]

I wonder how large his lawsuit against the government will be.

[Smallc]

Hopefully large enough to make up for the infringement of his constitutional rights for 6 years or so.

[capricorn]

How much do you think that's worth? Ballpark.

[Smallc]

I'm not really sure, but it will probably be in the millions of dollars...and it probably should be.

[capricorn]

There will probably be a public inquiry into the case. This might just be what the Liberals need to tank the Conservatives, especially if the inquiry is ongoing during an election.

[Topaz]

I did say Nicholson had no choice and today also, it came out that the only reason the Tories were keeping him out of the country because the former US ambassdor asked Harper not to let him back. When is the Canadian government going to do what is right for Canadians and NOT listen to everything the US says. He's been cleared as far as being a terrorist by the UN and other groups. The US has been wrong before and then it cost Canadians money when they sue! I watched the Tories on both CTV and CBC tonight and Hill said he's free and clear to be a Canadian and Van Loan, appeared to be angry and didn't want to talk about it.

[tango]

Ottawa lets slip secret document that reveals American request for info to help put Canadian in U.S. court

“ The document shows the U.S. did not have information that warranted any charges against [Mr. Abdelrazik], nor did Canada or Sudan. Yet his life remained a nightmare for years based on suspicion alone.”

Washington attempted to elicit the Harper government's help in putting Abousfian Abdelrazik behind bars, even though American anti-terrorist agents admitted they lacked sufficient evidence to charge him.

Government censors – in a rare failure to black out anything incriminating – let slip a “secret” document, dated July 19, 2006, that reveals a critical set of high-level exchanges between the administration of George W. Bush and the Stephen Harper government.

It was part of a trove of several hundred pages, many of them entirely blacked out, that were released by the government in response to a Privacy Act request by Mr. Abdelrazik.

The document, marked “secret,” shows that the Bush administration knew Sudan was about to release Mr. Abdelrazik from prison in the summer of 2006, and wanted help from Canadian police and anti-terrorism agents to try to charge him.

Dirtier and dirtier. But maybe the censors didn't make a mistake. Maybe Harper told them to leave this info exposed, to throw the guilt somewhere else?

Edited June 19, 2009 by tango

[Jerry J. Fortin]

Ottawa lets slip secret document that reveals American request for info to help put Canadian in U.S. court

“ The document shows the U.S. did not have information that warranted any charges against [Mr. Abdelrazik], nor did Canada or Sudan. Yet his life remained a nightmare for years based on suspicion alone.”

Washington attempted to elicit the Harper government's help in putting Abousfian Abdelrazik behind bars, even though American anti-terrorist agents admitted they lacked sufficient evidence to charge him.

Government censors – in a rare failure to black out anything incriminating – let slip a “secret” document, dated July 19, 2006, that reveals a critical set of high-level exchanges between the administration of George W. Bush and the Stephen Harper government.

It was part of a trove of several hundred pages, many of them entirely blacked out, that were released by the government in response to a Privacy Act request by Mr. Abdelrazik.

The document, marked “secret,” shows that the Bush administration knew Sudan was about to release Mr. Abdelrazik from prison in the summer of 2006, and wanted help from Canadian police and anti-terrorism agents to try to charge him.

Dirtier and dirtier. But maybe the censors didn't make a mistake. Maybe Harper told them to leave this info exposed, to throw the guilt somewhere else?

Maybe this is just bad business all the way around. It could be that there will be a lot of things said about this from every angle. Like I said before, bad optics.

[Borg]

From today:

Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian man living in exile in Sudan who the government has been told to return home, is a member of a Montreal terrorist cell and has close ties to senior al Qaeda leadership, a new United Nations Security Council document alleges.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

Of course, because he is a canadian he is all sweetness and light - but then again he would never acquire a canuck passport for evil purpose - or would he?

Oh, wait a minute - he is canadian - so he must be OK - after all he has been cleared by an investigation that probably did not see many RCMP go to that hell hole and talk to the friendly folks he was associating with.

Always more to the story - and the media loves a sad tale - so do resident canadians

Sigh - yeah - he is canadian so he must be a good guy

Borg

Edited June 23, 2009 by Borg

[wulf42]

Yeah why not? we allow all the other terrorist's groups into Canada why should we treat him any different...?

I wonder how long it will be until Sharia law comes into effect in this country...i'm guessing within 10 years.

[Smallc]

I heard it would be next week, but I think that it was just a rumour.