Desicritics Category: Politics: Canada

CUPE Canada is Anti Peace and Pro-Hate

Vijay Sappani — Sun, 1 Mar 2009 01:28:17 EST

I am disappointed with CUPE and Sid Ryan for their anti-Semitic action against Israeli Universities. In a conflict there is always difference of opinion. There is death, destruction and havoc in the lives of millions of civilians like we see in the Israel- Palestine conflict. Many of us hope to see an end to the conflict and bring permanent peace to the region.

The crisis is geographical, religious and historical that most of them are biased towards their side, making it difficult. It is always expected that those in academia have cooler heads and the best place to preach peace are educational institutions on both sides of the border.

CUPE is attacking the very nerve that can bring peace to the region. Instead of calling for a boycott, CUPE should encourage more collaborations with Israeli and other universities in the middle east. We should encourage joint chairs in our universities with those in Israel and middle east.

CUPE should foster peace, love and learning , not hatred, war and anti-Semitism. Maybe Sid Ryan should attend one of the events at Shalom-Salaam and learn from them. If you can't help bring peace, don't at least hurt.

The Crisis in Sri Lanka: Canada's Role

Vijay Sappani — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:52:23 EST

As Sri Lankan military forces try to overrun the last remaining strongholds of the LTTE rebel group (better known as the Tamil Tigers), how should Canada respond?

Canada once had a low-profile relationship with Sri Lanka. But that changed after the country's 1983 pogrom, when thousands of Tamils and Muslims were killed. More than 250,000 Sri Lankan Tamils have come to Canada as refugees since then, making Canada home to the largest Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in the world. Meanwhile, the Tigers -- who once controlled large swathes of the island nation -- have engaged in an on-again, off-again war with the Sri Lankan government. Understanding the history of this conflict is critical if Canada is to help develop a solution for the conflict.

Following its independence from Britain in 1948 (at which time the country was still known as Ceylon), Sri Lanka's Sinhalese-dominated government introduced several laws to institutionalize discrimination against the minority Tamil population. In 1972, Buddhism was made the primary religion of the state, and discriminatory laws were passed against religious minorities (most Tamils are Hindu). Sinhalese rioters during this period attacked temples and churches, killing hundreds. That led to the formation of many small Tamil militant groups, one of which was the Tamil Tigers.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the West paid only modest attention to Sri Lanka's internal conflict. But since 9/11, the country is seen in a different light. The Tigers -- a conventional military force that has perpetrated acts of terror -- have been banned in 31 countries, including Canada.

The Tigers and the Sri Lankan government have had several rounds of peace talks, but the guns remained truly silent only for a short while. In 2002, the two sides entered into peace talks brokered by Norway, with both parties agreeing to the establishment of an autonomous Tamil region in the northern part of the country. Unfortunately, both groups violated the terms of the agreement, and Sri Lanka finally called off the talks in January, 2008.

Since then, Sri Lanka's army has scored many battlefield victories. But ultimately, there can be no military solution to the conflict: Even if the Tigers lose all their bases, Sri Lanka's government will not be able to defeat the Tigers as a guerrilla force. In the meantime, civilians continue to be caught in the crossfire between a racist government and a rebel force that is militarily outgunned and shunned internationally.

If a negotiated political solution is to come about, the Tigers must clarify their acceptance of a Tamil nation within a united Sri Lanka, and commit to disarm. For its part, the government of Sri Lanka must agree to treat the country's Tamils in a more humane and equitable fashion. The current stage of the conflict -- in which an alarming number of civilians have died at the hands of government forces -- only reinforces Tamil concerns in this regard.

The international community must convince the Sri Lankan government and Tigers alike to arrive at a permanent resolution through peaceful negotiations. Canada could play an especially important role. In fact, our federal system (which could be a model for Sri Lanka) and our large Tamil diaspora makes us a credible candidate to lead the peace talks

The question is: Do we have an appetite to see the world beyond Iraq and Afghanistan? If so, this could be Canada's moment.

My Two Cents to Jason Kenney, Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

Vijay Sappani — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:35:11 EST

Jason, You have done some good things with Immigration, but at the wrong time. I came to Canada as a student in 1999, when this country had dinosaur-like rules that made it extremely difficult for even the brightest to stay back. I had an executive job with UPS on my one year work permit and after that, the rules said that I need to go back to India to apply for my immigration and come back. Ridiculous as it may sound, that's what many of us went through and lost some bright potential immigrants to US, including many of my own batch mates.

The change was started by Joe Volpe and has been been slowly drifting in since then. Here are my thoughts to you on your new proposal.

"Canada is looking to Asia as well as India for potential students. Universities are happy to get them, he said, because foreign students are "a source of revenue" since they pay the highest tuition fees."

Jason, India is in Asia and I don't know what you mean by "Asia as well as India". Don't just look for students with deep pockets, but those with deep knowledge. If you want the best to stay in Canada then you need to bring the best. Foreign students are the best pool of potential immigrants to Canada (like me) and you want to attract those who will be "a source of intellect" and not just "a source of revenue"

The most important thing that you need when you go fishing is not the equipment, but to know where there is fish. Is Canada putting its resources in the right places in India, China or Russia. I don't think so. The most number of education and H-1B visas given by any US consulate is Chennai, India, where Canada has two people trade office. Get your priorities right and focus on Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi for international students. Learn from the Aussies, Americans, Brits and even New Zealand.

The tuition fees for International students are two- three times more than what Canadians pay. At a time of economic downturn around the world, it will be hard for many students to pay 10K plus in tuition fees per year. Make education affordable for International students, allow unlimited work time during studying. open work permit is great and helps students after graduation. You want to give a tuition fees break for the best and brightest, so that we can not only attract them, but convince them to stay back. Foreign students should be seen as a long term investment plan, not short term revenue gain.

Allow graduate and post graduate students from US schools to apply for work permits in their broad area of study in Canada. Some of the best students from India, China, Israel go to US for post graduate education and we should make it attractive and easy for them to work and immigrate to Canada. Tap them when they are in school in US.

Our points based system is not perfect and the time is now to can our existing system and come with a new model that suits the needs of Canada and our markets. Today, a MBA from Timbuktu is treated the same as a MBA from Harvard on the points system, but the market does not treat them the same. There is a lot, I can go on and on with my own experience in this country, but my wife just reminded me that its Sunday and get off the computer! So bye for now

Sri Lanka-LTTE War: The Shifting Semantics of a Political Solution

Kalugu — Mon, 2 Feb 2009 08:15:49 EST

On Sunday, 31st January, the Red Cross said in a statement that the Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital in Vanni region received two direct hits from Sri Lankan Army shelling. "We're shocked that the hospital was hit, and this for the second time in recent weeks," said Paul Castella, head of the Colombo delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). "Wounded and sick people, medical personnel and medical facilities are all protected by international humanitarian law. Under no circumstance may they be directly attacked." The hospital, which has some 500 inpatients, is one of the few still operating in the region.

A "handful" of United Nations staff are working around the clock to save a growing number of children caught in the crossfire, a U.N. spokesman said Saturday. Children as young as 4 months old were being treated in local hospitals for shrapnel injuries and other "wounds of war," spokesman James Elder told CNN.

The 48 hour respite announced by the government has ended as an act of eye-wash while 80 innocent Tamil civilians have been killed and 230 have been injured in the said 48 hours and that too within the government declared ‘safety zone’ in Vanni. During this 48 hour safe passage assured for the civilians which ended on Sunday, about 70 civilians crossed over to the government held areas. The LTTE announced that it will neither encourage or stop the civilians from moving to any area they feel as safe but will protect the civilians that stay in their territory. Most of the 250,000 civilians appear to be staunch supporters of the rebel movement that they have decided to stay in the rebel held areas.

Meanwhile Sri Lankan Government officials accused aid organizations and foreign media of sensationalizing civilian casualties. In an interview to local media as reported by The Guardian, the defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, highlighted the role of ambassadors of Switzerland and Germany, and television networks CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera in his criticism of foreigners, accusing them of being biased towards the LTTE rebels. "They will be chased away" he said. In the newspaper article, he singled out the BBC correspondent reporting from Colombo, Chris Morris, saying that "if he does not act responsibly and attempts to create panic, I will have to chase him out of the country"

The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in a show of solidarity held large scale protests last week in Toronto, Canada and London, UK that gained live coverage in the local media. The protests were reported as something that these cities have never witnessed.

About 80,000 individuals took part in the Human Chain protest in Toronto, Canada and shouted slogans supporting the independence of Tamil Eelam and immediate ceasefire.

In London, UK about 130,000 individuals, mostly Tamils took to the streets also calling for Independence for Tamil Eelam. Few British parliamentarians who were present during the protests, spoke to the crowd. British Parliamentarian Mr Keith Vaz said "Over there across the road is the Indian Embassy. We urge the Indian government in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi to call for peace, to call for democracy".

It is ironic to see a Britisher asking India to honor Mahatma Gandhi.

In Chennai, India, more than 10,000 activists of political parties and social outfits, including a large number of students and youth, on Saturday bade an emotional farewell to Muthukumar, who had set himself ablaze for the Sri Lankan Tamil cause. They chanted slogans seeking recognition for an independent Tamil Eelam, hailing LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran and condemned India for its alleged support to Sri Lanka in the ongoing war.

Meanwhile, the newly-formed Sri Lankan Tamils' Protection Movement, comprising several political parties, announced a state-wide general strike on February 4 and black flag processions on February 7 demanding a ceasefire in the island nation. The strike will coincide with Sri Lanka's Independence Day.

Apprehending student unrest across Tamil Nadu over the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the state government on Saturday night closed all government and private colleges and hostels for an indefinite period. Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, protesters torched a state-owned bus near Vellore, while 225 people were arrested in Thanjavur when they tried to lay siege on the Air Force station. They were protesting against the alleged use of the Air Force station for sending arms to Lanka.

As the international pressure from governments and Tamil diaspora mount on the Sri Lankan government, more analysts are making note that an Independent Tamil Eelam is now a political solution where as a united Sri Lanka has become a military one. The shift in the semantics does indicate that a military victory over LTTE as speculated by the Sri Lankan government may probably not end the crisis.

India to Canada: Bring Dollars Not Guns

Vijay Sappani — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:13:34 EST

India's minister of Industry and commerce, Kamal Nath has called upon Canada for greater investment and participation in India's booming economy. Canada has not benefited from India's burgeoning market so far, but the prospects are getting better by the day. Indian companies have already started to invest in Canada in natural resources, IT, energy and other industries. Several Canadian companies like Sun Life, Bombadier, Aecon and Bata have been in India for long years and others are starting to follow.

Canada also got a slight in the media connected to the terror bombing in Ludhiana, Punjab. A statement released by the Punjab Police takes a swipe at Canada, that all media groups carried.

The Quick Reaction Team, an elite force of the Chandigarh police is now tackling terrorist activities fuelled and funded by groups abroad.
The Dixie Gurudwara in Canada has been a hub of pro-Khalistan elements for over a decade now. The support often translating into monetary help for terrorists.So the whole of Punjab was taken aback when Amarinder Singh on an official visit as Chief Minister in 2005 chose to address a gathering at this gurudwara.

''The whole world knew that terrorists get shelter in that gurdwara and it's being run by terrorists. When Amarinder was delivering his speech there, the slogan Khalistan zindabad was visible in the backdrop. The slogan essentially meant Punjab should be separated from India,'' said M S Bitta, Chairman, All India Anti Terrorist Front.

Support to Sikh terrorists from Canadian groups has been widely covered by National media in both countries but there seems to be no change in attitude from certain segments. It also well known that some MP's and MPP's are known to be sympatetic to separatists groups that advocate the creation of a Sikh home land from India.

Canada allowing itself to be launching pad for separatists movement for ethnic groups and watching them hail terrorists as hero's is going to hurt Canada in the long run in the eyes of the world.

Peaceful quest for democracy in a country where that ethnic group is deprived of human rights is something we should support , like in Burma, Tibet, but turning a blind eye to violent movement for political gains is against the fundamental values of Canada. All political parties do it to get a share of ethnic votes including the Conservatives.

Is Omar Khadr A Child Soldier Or A Peace Lover?

Vijay Sappani — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 00:21:42 EST

Omar Khadr was captured in Afghanistan at the age of 15 while fighting against American forces. CBS did a program on Omar Khadr on 60 minutes. The video is interesting and does raise a debate on whether he should be treated as a child soldier.

I think the US should make a deal with Omar Khadr and get him to travel around the world talking about his experience and discouraging terrorism. He should be the poster boy for the CIA for how they believe in giving peace a chance and not otherwise. Now, the question is will Omar be interested in it. Is he still a terrorist at heart or has he transformed to be a peace lover?

At 15, I agree to the arguments of his lawyer that he followed the instructions of his father and did what he did. Fair enough. Omar, who is now 20, is mature and experienced enough to make his own decisions, better than 5 years ago. So the big question is, does he understand what he did was wrong and regret for his acts of terror. Does Omar want a second chance in life to lead of life of peace and love and not terror and hatred. Does he have remorse for his actions.

If the answer is yes,then he should not only be pardoned but also protected and hired by CIA. If the answer is NO, then he should be treated like any one else in Guantanamo Bay. If he still has hatred towards civilized people, if he still wants to take revenge, then what is the logic in releasing him. This is the tricky part we don't know and we all deserve to know what is running in Omar Khadr's mind. Will he help us propagate the message against Terrorism or will he go back to be a terrorist?

Is It Time to Review Bilingualism in Canada

Vijay Sappani — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:05:57 EST

Here's an interesting read for those who have roots in India and those who are complaining about bilingualism in Canada. Imagine 28 official languages in India! To some extent I agree with the petition. Everyone should be encouraged to learn their mother tongue and at least one official language. Most people in India prefer English over Hindi as it is the commonly used language of business and one should not be forced to learn a third language, something that I think applies to Canada too. I learned English and was forced to learn Hindi in school while in India even though my mother tongue is Tamil. No wonder I can read and write Hindi more fluently than Tamil. How many Canadians can speak their mother tongue, forget read and write?

Canada is the new country of an emerging trend of globalization. By making bilingualism mandatory in several jobs that don't require the need for it, we are discriminating against some talented people who could otherwise be in the job by knowing one of the two official languages.

If almost 100% of our growth is going to come from immigrants in a couple of decades from now, we need to make changes to our employment system to attract the best talent to Canada and make them eligible for jobs that will keep the economic engine running.

The days of a high Canadian dollar are here to say and Canada needs to start looking into other international markets to support our export business. Markets like China, India, Brazil, Russia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Middle East and many other fast growing countries don't need French, but in fact some countries don't speak either of our official languages. Why does a research associate on trade opportunities in China in the Federal government need to know both English and French. What we need is a person who has the skills for the job and should be fluent in one of the official languages.

Maybe it is time for us to review our draconian laws on bilingualism and look into the needs of the market today and enable more skilled people who are fluent in one of the official languages to be absorbed in Federal government positions. No political party, especially in a minority situation is going talk anything about it and no MP who has leadership ambitions will do it either, but the reality of the market is that, we need to start accepting to live in an economy of high Cdn $ that will start hurting our manufacturing and service sectors serving US clients. Many states in mid west are trying to get skilled professionals from India and China and provide tech and BPO services to US companies that were traditionally sourced from Canada. The change in dollar value, the perks of tax breaks given by parched states in mid west and the ability at ease to hire skilled professionals from Asia is making it easy for these companies to provide better rates and match the service needs of US corporates.

A change in business culture starts with its people and if we are going to keep some people out because of linguistic purposes, then we are not necessarily hiring the best talent available in the market and forcing some of them to go south. No wonder Canada is called a 'pit stop' for skilled professionals who end up in US when they can't get a job here.

Maybe it is time that we start encouraging Canadians to learn one of the Official languages, their mother tongue and if possible the second official language, but we should open up more jobs in Federal government for people who can speak one of the official languages that might be been sufficient based on the geography and needs of the jobs and hire them based on their skills for the jobs. Is it the question of who is going to bell the cat!

Minorities and Poverty

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:18:40 EST

If a first or second generation immigrant is poor, it is the host government's fault, according to an article. And they have to go about doing silly things like affirmative action and equal opportunity. Oh!, and have minimum wage which is supposed to be decent. Who defines decent? As for minimum wages, there is a very hot debate going on about whether minimum wages depress employment or not. Even if it did not, the idea that a government agency will tell me how much to pay my workers is anathema to me as a libertarian!

They seem to be saying that it is to do with race. What utter rot, to put it politely. This bit made me laugh, apparently there are people now called as visible minorities. I presume it refers to skin colour, social habits or such like. I would be curious to see what or who are visible majorities? or invisible majorities? But besides this frankly spectacularly stupid terminology, here is something to think about.

The mother country to Canada, United Kingdom which has a somewhat similar ethnic, immigration and minority background gives these figures for education:

Can you see the 2 lines which are beyond 70%? those belong to visible minorities - the Indians and Chinese, who significantly over take the visible majority (the whites, I guess). I wonder where Jews fit in? or how about Polish? But I presume they are too white to be minorities, yes?

Now look at economic activity here.

Can you see the second set of bars? That's whites. Where are Indians? Just a tiny bit below them. And so are Blacks.

How about employment (full time, part time, employment rate and unemployment rate?) see page 15 of this report. More Indian extraction women are in employment than white women. The % of full time employment is the same for Indian men and White men. Here's another interesting study on relative earnings by minority status.

For those who refer to the test of sending CV applications with different names, has anybody tried the reverse experiment? Send Christian and Hindu name CV's to, say, Hindu employers and see the results. I dare say that you will find group behaviour, that people prefer to work with people of their own category - religion, geography, ethnicity.

A very good overview of this entire issue of ethnicity and poverty in the UK is in this paper. See Table 4.1 and try to tell me that it is clear that just being visibly different causes differences. How is that that % differences are more than 100% across minorities? Take a look at Table 4.4 where you will see that the hourly pay for Indians is greater than that of the white British population? Or that more Indians and Pakistanis get their income from self employment than whites as given in Table 4.6? Or in table 4.7, Indians and other ethnic groups take less benefits than whites?

Public policy should not be driven by blunt instruments such as skin colour. Why aren't people trying to push these people to setup their own businesses rather than looking to the government to support them? I am totally unconvinced that it is skin colour or religion that is the cause of poverty or a significant explaining factor in government public policy. If, say, the government starts off doling out cash, then why on earth would they dole it out to, say, Indians who are earning more than whites anyway?

Then you have to start defining what a minority is, etc. etc. Wouldnt it simply be better to give cash and benefits to poor people, irrespective?

Dalton Mcguinty Makes History in Ontario Elections

temporal — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:46:42 EDT

Dalton who? History?

October 10, 2007 was election day in Ontario.

Three main political parties contested the elections. The ruling Liberals under incumbent Premier Dalton Mcguinty, the Progressive Conservatives under John Tory and the New Democrats under Howard Hampton.

For the successful politicians politics is the art of consensus building, elections are about defining and seizing the moment. Mcguinty thwarted off allegations against his broken promises in the past election and defined for the voters the issue of school subsidy for the faith based school funding in Ontario. This emphasis resonated with the majority of the voters and dominated the electioneering.

Under the present system, only catholic school board is subsidised by the government. John Tory, leader of the Conservatives promised to extend this funding to all faith based school systems .

Macguinty and his team pounced on this and defined it as the campaign issue. Latent Islamophobia played a part in this too. The Liberal campaign was so effective that in the last week before the polling John Tory backed away from his promise to provide equal funding for faith based schooling. But it was too little too late by then.

In the elections held yesterday The conservatives garnered only 26 seats (31.6% of the vote) to the Liberals 71 seats (42.2 %.) And Mcguinty won a back to back Liberal majority for the first time in 70 years.

52.6 % of the eligible voters in Ontario cast their ballots.

Digression on the Desi Angle

There were many ridings, mostly in 905 area (the suburban areas are defined by the phone area code - while metro Toronto numbers begin with 416, the surrounding areas numbers begin with 905) that were contested exclusively by desis. There were a few ridings where the candidates of the major parties in the riding were either Sikhs or Sikhs and Hindus. (Mississaugua-Brampton South, Bramalea-Gore-Malton), There was one riding in the 416 Etobicoke North where the three main rivals were Muslims.

In addition to this, many desis volunteer and participate actively for all the major parties and their candidates and are part of the election teams that manages these elections from the pamphlet distribution to back room strategy

Digression from a Polling Booth

(Names and numbers changed to protect privacy)

This polling booth was set up in one of the party rooms of a luxury Condominium complex in the west end. This is where the registered voters of the two buildings would cast their votes. Building A had 356 and Building B had 315 registered voters.

The Polling Agents were advised to arrive at 8 am. Rose, Bettey, Ivona and Shah arrived there at 8 am. They set up the tables according to the layout provided by the Elections Ontario. Rose and Betty set up Table A, with Rose acting as the Poll Clerk and Betty as the Deputy Returning Officer. They set up their tables, opened the boxes, put up signs in the lobby and the walls leading to the Voting Room, organised the boxes and tons of material sent by the Ontario Elections to assist them in the voting and for the count and closing reports. They managed to set it all up by 8.50am. Ivona and Shah did the same for Table B.

The voters from the two buildings started coming in from the moment the doors opened and continued throughout the day with few breaks. The majority of the voters were senior citizens, professionals with a few teenagers and younger families mixed in. The turn out here was higher here (approx 69%) than the provincial average of 52%.

There were no shouting matches, disputes were resolved amicably, If the names were not on the list they could be added on the spot by the Deputy Returning Officer upon production of one ID from a list of over twenty provided by Elections Ontario.

When the polls closed at 9pm the doors were locked, forms taken out, filled diligently, envelopes taken out and spread on the table, ballots counted and re counted, the totals reconciled with the list of blank ballots supplied, the totals phoned in to the reporting center, then the envelopes were sealed put in the supplied bag and handed over to the Area Manager, who would take the bag to the area office.

The only excitement Ivona and Shah had was one missing vote. They counted all the ballots many times but always came up one short. In the rush, one of the voters had inadvertently walked away with a vote instead of dropping it in the box.

The other table had an intriguing moment too. An elderly man walked in and cast his vote. Then he demanded to cast his wife's proxy vote, adding he wanted her wishes respected, and he mentioned she had died the day before.

If he had not mentioned aloud that his wife had died the day before, he would have been allowed to exercise the signed proxy and vote on her behalf. But His admission caused a flurry of phone calls to the Area Manager, the riding center, theprovincial headquarters. Sadly, in the end he was not allowed to cast her vote. The ruling that was handed to him was only living people could participate directly or through proxies.

For more news reports check out these links:here , here , here , here , here and here.

Canadian Politics: Alleged Terrorists Released From Jail

Richard Marcus — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 09:14:08 EDT

The results of the Supreme Court of Canada's overturning the use of security certificates to hold refugee applicants in permanent detention without trial if there was any suspicion of terrorist activity are now being seen. Two men who had been held under the law for years were both released from federal penitentiaries in the past two days.

Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub was released on this past Thursday after being held in Kingston Penitentiary for the last seven years because he had run a farming operation in the Sudan for Osama bin Laden. He has been released under conditions tantamount to him being under twenty- four-hour surveillance.

The terms of his house arrest includes being monitored by the Canadian Border Authority via a GPS bracelet permanently attached to his ankle, video cameras in his house, taps on his phone, and being followed by agents on the rare occasions he is allowed to leave his house. His family are also being held responsible for him adhering to all of his bail conditions.

Mr. Mahjoub has been the Canadian suspect with closest ties to Osama bin Laden, but he claims his association was innocent. The farming concerns he ran for the leader of al-Qaeda were during the time before bin Laden even lived in Afghanistan, and he claims to have just been another employee and eventually left the job over money disputes with bin Laden.

Mr. Mahjoub has never been accused of any terror activity, but the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) claims that he was part of an Egyptian extremist group called the Vanguards of Conquest and knew al-Qaeda operatives including a person alleged to be a Canadian financer of the group and an Iraqi who the American 9/11 commission calls al-Qaeda's principal procurement agent for weapons of mass destruction. ( It may be just me, but any American announcement containing the words Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction just doesn't seem to have much credibility)

The second man was released on Friday from a detention centre in Kingston Ontario Canada as well. Mahmoud Jaballah has been in detention since 2001, although the government has been after him since 1999. When they attempted to have him deported in 1999 they lost their case held under normal circumstances, but when the opportunity arose with the security laws in place he was immediately rearrested.

Attempts by the government to have him deported back to his native Egypt have been constantly denied by the courts because of the very real threat of torture he would face if returned. Although the current government continues to insist upon Mr. Jaballah's guilt (In a statement released by Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, in response to Mr. Jaballah's release Day implied he was the murderer of women and children.) the judge said that although the initial evidence against Mr. Jaballah did at one time warrant the security certificate, now that he has spent six years in detention and no additional evidence has come to light she had to defer to the Supreme Court's ruling that the longer a person spends incarcerated the less likelihood there is of them being a security risk.

Based on those grounds the federal court judge changed Mr. Jaballah's sentence to that of house arrest, similar to the conditions imposed upon Mr. Mahjoub. The judge asserted, but offered no proof to back her words, that the conditions were imperative in Mr. Jaballah's case because she had no doubt that if not monitored he would get in touch with terrorists.

Mr. Jaballah first came under suspicion because of a series of over a hundred phone calls he placed to the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan, and Yemen to an alleged al Qaeda front. When those are added to the twenty calls he made to those destination and Pakistan in a subsequent two-day period and the fact that when asked to explain he either was evasive or didn't answer the questions it served to confirm his guilt in the eyes of the courts.

Given the atmosphere in North America in the days following 9/11 you can understand why he was placed under suspicion. The bombings he was accused of co-ordinating were embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. But now nine years later and no further evidence has come forth, and, according to his lawyer, when the United States released a list of suspects, he wasn't even named as an un indicted co-conspirator.

The government of Canada's reaction to these events has been highly predictable. Aside from his insinuations about Mr. Jaballah being responsible for killing women and children and just awaiting his opportunity to go on another bloodthirsty rampage, he also has stated that the government would prefer that all these people remain locked up.

In another tidy bit of fear mongering he also said he hoped that the house arrest rules would be enough to keep Canadians safe from them. He then added that the court agreed that Mr. Mahjoub had clearly worked for Osama bin Laden and received a salary for that work. Well who wouldn't want to be paid for working, and since when has it become a crime to work for someone when there is no proof that your activities were criminal.

I mean if we're going to start rounding up people who've had business associations with Osama they better be picking up Dick Cheney and almost everybody on the Halliburton Board of Directors. At one point they had owned around 30% of bin Landen's company. Not just his families business - but his company. Doesn't anyone find it at all odd that on the day after 9/11 when all the planes in and out of the United States were grounded, that all the members of the bin Laden family living in the United States were able to fly home?

Who arranged that for them, and why was it allowed to happen? If Dick Cheney and George Bush, both of who would have to okay something like this, come to Canada will they be picked up on a security certificate? They've had some pretty suspicious contact with bin Laden and his whole family immediately after 9/11.

What does that sound ridiculous? Why is it anymore ridiculous than wanting to keep a man in jail because he ran a farm for bin Laden long before he even went to Afghanistan? What proof do they even have that either man had of any involvement in any terror activity? Well, none, actually. One guy made a lot of phone calls to the countries where he could have family just as easily as he could have terror contacts. Why so many calls in two days? Hell if my mom has to contact her family about an event like a death she could make twenty calls in an afternoon no sweat.

Mr. Mahjoub worked for someone who turns out to be one of the bad guys, but how was he supposed to know that back whenever it was he worked for him. In fact the government hasn't said when he worked for him, only that it was before bin Laden was in Afghanistan, which means before 9/11/01. In fact he even says he quit working for him over a dispute with money. No one has given us any reason not to believe him.

Mahmoud Jaballah and Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub were both held in Canadian prisons with no trial, not knowing what exactly they had done to end up there, and knowing if they were to lose they'd be deported to torture and death in their former homes. Perhaps it was understandable seven years ago to keep an eye on people like them, or even detain them temporarily. But now it 's just cruel and unjust.

If you're having any doubts about which side to err on in Canada, freedom or so called safety, think about Mahar Arar and his time in an Egyptian jail being tortured. It was our security service that put him there with their inaccuracies and incompetence. Do you trust them with any more lives?