By Judi McLeod
Monday, January 29, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has a bad bout of President George W. Bush bane: a conservatism fading too fast to liberalism.
Only global warming is blamed for more things than George W. Bush, whose unpopularity reached all time highs when fellow conservatives saw through his band aid solutions to the gaping wound called border control.
Harper, well on his way to Opposition rank in the next federal election, gifted a $10.5 million compensation package to Maher Arar and his family with $1-million to spare for Arar's lawyers. This mega-million dollar contrition was made on behalf of Canadians for the "terrible ordeal" Arar and family suffered after Arar spent nearly a year in Syrian jail.
"On behalf of the government of Canada, I wish to apologize to you...and your family for any role Canadian officials have played in the terrible ordeal that all of you experienced in 2002 and 2003," Harper said. "I sincerely hope that these words and actions will assist you and your family in your efforts to begin a new and hopeful chapter in your lives," Harper moralized.
In 2002, Arar a Canadian citizen born in Syria was living in Ottawa and returning from a vacation when he was arrested during a stopover at New York's JFK airport. U.S. authorities deported him to Syria, where he was tortured.
According to Harper, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had provided misleading information to the U.S. authorities, which may have been the reason he was deported back to Syria.
So far Uncle Sam is not telling what they have on Arar and why he was deported back to the country of his birth.
But it was the Canadian Liberal government, which called an inquiry into his case, and a beaming Arar said he was grateful to the former government for having called the inquiry.
New Democrat Party (NDP) politicians, who detractors see as "Liberals minus the pinstriped suits" lobbied for "Justice for Maher Arar" in opening chapters when his wife Monia Mazigh began pushing the Canadian government to acknowledge its role.
It was a clear victory for the NDP when Harper paid out the $10.5 million from taxpayers' coffers on Friday.
In spite of his millions--Arar, still on a U.S. terrorist watch list--says he is afraid to travel, and Canadian compassion is at work to ease his travel anxieties.
In his announcement from the foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa, Harper added the rider that Canada has sent letters to the U.S. and Syrian governments to object to Arar's treatment.
Harper's edict was followed up by his public safety minister Stockwell Day, who said he would continue to discuss getting Arar off the watch list with American officials.
U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins criticized Ottawa's efforts to have Arar removed from the security watch list, saying Washington alone will decide who to let into the country.
Even though Liberals have tagged Harper as "Scary Stephen" since the election campaign that saw one minority government toppled by another minority government, Harper has been a most reluctant Conservative.
Without media fanfare, Harper accepted membership in Canada's all-powerful Queen's Privy Council on May 4, 2004, just one month prior to the June 28 Canadian federal election.
Harper had entered the federal election campaign in what appeared to be an upbeat and confident mood. By the last two weeks of the campaign, he seemed to go into hiding for petulant musing.
Within days of the 2004 election, he was talking to the mainstream media about stepping aside, and somewhat melodramatically "mulling over" his future.
Even back then, Harper was viewed by some in his own party faithful as lackluster in conservative ideals and was dubbed "the beacon of bland".
Melodrama seemed to be a Tory trait when his deputy party leader Peter Mackay went into hiding after being dumped by Liberal MP Belinda Stronach. Mackay returned to his father's Nova Scotia farm where he posed for sad sack pictures with his dog.
With the $10.5 million contrition to Arar, some Canadians are wondering if authorities will become even more lax in trying to identify suspected terrorists.
According to an August 2002 report of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), "...with the possible exception of the United States, there are more international terrorist organizations active in Canada than anywhere in the world. This situation can be attributed to Canada's proximity to the United States which currently is the principal target of terrorist groups operating internationally; and to the fact that Canada, a country built upon immigration, represents a microcosm of the world."
Canada's blood seems anemic when it comes to taking a strong stand on extradition.
Canada, which its most prominent criminal lawyer Edward (Eddie) Greenspan, says is "at the forefront of the entire world as a very strong anti-death penalty country, refuses to extradite criminal suspects to the United States--without first obtaining guarantees that the death penalty will not be sought or imposed."
Meanwhile, the U.S. has never divulged why Arar is being kept on its terrorist watch list.
But that won't stop Harper from taunting the US to drop the new multi-millionaire from its list.
In the U.S. voters got a Conservative fading to Liberal with George W. Bush.
In this country, voters got Harper, the George W. Bush of Canada.
In his lack to protect his country's borders, there are those who say that Bush is pandering to the Hispanic vote for the Republican Party in 2008.
There are those who say that Harper did not stop at Quebec, and may be pandering for the Muslim vote in the next election.
Canadians are used to being stabbed in the back by politicians, but when the backstabbing is executed by a short-of-charisma "policy wonk", the backstabbing is harder to take.
Harper, who began to make like a Liberal back in 2004, never came out of the closet until Friday, January 26, 2007, the day that Harper gave a US suspected terrorist $10.5 million; the day that the Liberal's tag for Harper became a truth: "Scary Stephen".
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement