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Arar

26 May 2008

In the aftermath of the factual report, the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was forced to resign and was succeeded by the first civilian commissioner in the force’s history. [...] At the same time, O’Connor’s policy recommendations contain two serious shortcomings: the lack of any consideration of the role of Parliament in national security review, and the deliberate focus on propriety issues at the expense of consideration of the efficacy of national security operations. [...] In the fallout from the inquiry, the commissioner of the RCMP was eventually forced to submit his res- ignation, and the government, under pressure from the Arar affair as well as other issues surrounding the force, felt compelled to appoint for the first time a civilian commissioner. [...] In 2002, Arar was a member of a suspect minority community who could be snatched away to little public notice or objection; at the end of 2006, the Globe and Mail named Arar as “Canadian of the Year.”2 The real significance of the Arar affair and the inquiry is both deeper and wider than the personal reversal of fortune. [...] By the end, the government probably expended more resources in responding to (and trying to contain) the inquiry than the Commission itself actually spent.10 As I indicated above, the terms of reference and the appointment of O’Connor as commissioner were indicative of a desire on the part of the Martin government to arrive at the truth in as transparent a man- ner as possible.
human rights government politics crime terrorism civil rights counter-terrorism criminal law deportation extraordinary rendition false imprisonment law law enforcement national security police ethnic profiling torture victims parliament crime, law and justice government department intelligence service evaluate maher arar arar paul martin canadian security intelligence service csis martin gomery commission detention of persons jean chrétien counterterrorist arar commission

Authors

Whitaker, Reginald

Pages
38
Published in
Canada

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