Maher Arar

[Durgan]

What I don't get -- and have never gotten from the start of this weird miscarriage of justice and accountability -- is why the Syrians would imprison and torture Arar if the Americans (and RCMP) thought he was an al-Qaida or any other sort of terrorist?

Good point. He could have been anywhere. He may not have left North America.

Before crooks drive you to their "meeting place", they usually put a hood over your head. You may be driven around the block endlessly to create the illusion that you are going far away.

Surely you aren't serious. Arar was visited in prison in Syria by Canadian Foreign Affairs officials.

Durgan.

[Leafless]

Pacifying the uncontrollable nature of human desires for power and control can only be conquered with strong government leadership and not simply buying time.

Government IS the uncontrollable nature of human desires for power and control.

Granted, the government is the upper level pertaining to a countries social hierarchy.

But we a talking about the lower level multitude of multicultural power seeking groups with some struggling to achieve the status and power of the ruling government.

This of course undermines democracy, national values and destroys personal initiative and slowly bankrupts the country.

Official Multiculturalism destroys the prospect of national unity, kills the spirit and confuses the mind adding to the decay that could cause nations to deteriorate and collapse.

[Higgly]

And you call yourself a Canadian!

I've already listed and posted important the most important Canadian values previously on this board.

If you are a real Canadian you should already know what Canadian values are.

Hilarious. Would one of those values be tolerance? Somehow I don't think a real Canadian is someone who goes around telling other people whether or not they are real Canadians.

Sorry I missed your musings on Canadian values. As you can see, I am a new member so I wasn't around when you were coining your gems of wisdom. Perhaps you would consider bringing them out in book form? I'd use the search feature, but from what I have seen here, I doubt the effort would be rewarded.

Thanks for your post though. A hearty laugh after breakfast is good for the digestion.

[Durgan]

Sorry posted twice

[Durgan]

Another aspect of this which I find particularly disturbing is that, once Arar was able to get himself back to Canada and seek justice for what was done to him, the RCMP started a smear campaign against him. This is an ugly little secret in Canadian police work, and it has gotten much worse with the widespread use of the internet.

I suggest this is a particularly damaging reason why the Commissioner, Giuliano Zaccardelli, should be removed.

The previous commissioner of the RCMP gave a resounding defence of Giuliano Zaccardelli on the CBC, particularly emphasizing that Zaccardelli has about 60,000 members and trusted subordinates to do the right thing, and that he couldn't be supervising all. I suggest this is reasonable in normal circumstances.

Clearly after Arar was released, Giuliano Zaccardelli must have been in the loop due to the possible ramifications of the event. This implies that he was complicit in the smear campaign. If he wasn't in the loop he certainly should have been. Therefore his removal by resignation or request is mandatory. It is a case of accountability.

Durgan.

[M.Dancer]

Well, the fact is Canada does have ... values ...

This is a terrific point. What are those values?

And you call yourself a Canadian!

I've already listed and posted important the most important Canadian values previously on this board.

If you are a real Canadian you should already know what Canadian values are.

Yeah you did and you made zero sense to anyone reading.....possibly because your sense of what Canadian values are, are not well thought out nor are they particularly unique to Canada.

[jbg]

Maher Arar was deported to Syria and tortured. This is a Candian citizen. We do not treat our worst criminals like this. Clifford Olson, Paul Bernardo. Has Robert Picton been tortured to extract a confession?

I really don't think you want to equate the "innocent" (I'm still not sure how innocent) Maher Arar to Clifford Olson, Paul Bernardo and/or Robert Picton.

He had 7 possible chances to explain that he was being tortured in private conversation with consular officals, the Canadian Ambassador in Syria found no reason to believe he was being tortured...

Let's put it this way. If an immigrant doesn't bother to assimilate, but spends his vacations in (as I recall) such garden spots as Afghanistan and Libya, he hasn't become a true Canadian. How many visits back to 19th Century Kiev do you think my ancestors made?

I haven't seen this report. Was there a Syrian or American official present when the consular official was interviewing him? I am willing to bet that there was, in which case all bets are off. This is like having the cops in the room when you are speaking to your lawyer.

Before you were equating Arar to Pickton or Bernardo (maybe not a bad analogy), now you're equating the US government to that of Syria?

I voted no because some of those documents actually might reveal the identities of field agents, or details of ongoing operations, etc.

At a bare minimum, however, the government should release the fully uncensored Commissioner's report.

Only if it doesn't shed light on intelligence methods or human assets.

I don't know how you can call Canada the greatest nation in the world especially when Canada does have severe problems with multiculturalism.

The only reason they are presently dormant is the federal government keeps throwing away huge amounts of tax payers dollars, federal powers and constitutional rights to keep it that way.

The multicultural bubble could burst before the feds run out of financial ammo, federal powers and constitutional rights to give away.

It's simply a matter of time either way.

Pacifying the uncontrollable nature of human desires for power and control can only be conquered with strong government leadership and not simply buying time.

I think the concept of "multiculturalism" was invented to create a false dichotomy with a nearby country to you that speaks the same language as 80% of you, has a largely joint and symbiotic history and economy, and a somewhat similar culture.