The Conservative government faced an onslaught of questions Tuesday from opposition MPs demanding to know what action Ottawa will take to compensate Syrian-born Canadian Maher Arar.
In a report made public on Monday, Justice Dennis O'Connor wrote that the RCMP passed misleading, inaccurate and unfair information to American authorities that "very likely" led to Arar's arrest and deportation to Syria, where he faced torture.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe rose in the House of Commons during question period on Tuesday to ask the prime minister how Ottawa intended to act.
"Given the inexact transmission of information to the American authorities that led Maher Arar being sent to Syria and imprisoned for a year, it was even recommended that compensation in the report be given to Mr. Maher Arar," Duceppe said in French.
"Does the government intend to act on the recommendation and compensate Mr. Arar?" he asked.
Duceppe also asked the prime minister if he would raise his concerns with Syrian and American officials on his visit to the United Nations on Thursday.
Most of the judge's 23 policy recommendations centred on the RCMP and emphasized the need to improve the force's internal policies for national security investigations and the sharing of information with other countries.
But O'Connor also recommended that Ottawa file formal protests with the U.S. and Syrian governments.
Harper said that the government planned to act according to O'Connor's recommendations but did not pinpoint what action Ottawa would take nor did he say whether the government would file a diplomatic protest with the U.S. or Syria.
"It is clear that there was injustice against Mr. Maher Arar and we intend to act," Harper said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton also went after Harper on his plan of action regarding Arar, demanding that he apologize to Arar immediately.
"Canada must apologize to Mr. Arar and to all his family. He suffered torture, he was taken away from his family, he was humiliated, he was dragged through the mud because Canada let him down," Layton said Tuesday.
"Why is the prime minister refusing to rise in this House and on behalf of the government of Canada, on behalf of all of the citizens of Canada? Why is he not apologizing to Maher Arar today, right now?"
Harper remained guarded in his response, repeating that he agreed a "great injustice" was done to Arar.
"The government will base its action on those recommendations, I understand that Mr. Arar has legal proceedings against the federal government and I await discussions amongst lawyers to reach a satisfactory result and which will satisfy Mr. Arar."
A damage suit by Arar against Ottawa was put on hold during O'Connor's inquiry. Both sides have agreed to mediation talks, but those meetings are not scheduled until next January.
Stockwell Day responds to critics
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, meanwhile, said the government would not fire RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, as some critics have demanded.
"We're not taking any precipitous action related to the RCMP,'' Day said, adding the government would "move forward'' on O'Connor's recommendations related to the police force.
Irwin Cotler, Liberal opposition critic for public safety, said officials who anonymously smeared Arar with false accusations of involvement in terrorism before and after his 2003 return from Syria "should be held accountable.''
Arar expressed his satisfaction at the report and called for the government to take action.
"I have always said that I want whoever is responsible for this to be held accountable, to make sure that this doesn't happen to any other Canadian. it is really up to the Canadian government to decide how to do this," he said Tuesday, appearing on CTV's Canada AM.
When asked whether it would satisfy him to see the Zaccardelli lose his job or resign, Arar repeated again that it was up to the government to make that decision.
"But I don't think we should really look at the role of Canadian officials as a whole and I don't think it's only a single official who is to be blamed for this," he said.
The RCMP said it was still reviewing the report.
In the meantime, the Arar commission report is drawing attention to the Bush administration's response to the Arar case.
A New York Times story pointed out that O'Connor concluded American authorities treated the Arar case "in a most regrettable fashion'' and dealt with Canadian officials "in a less than forthcoming manner.''
Americans, for example, denied Arar's request to speak with the Canadian consulate in New York after he was taken into custody there, which is considered a violation of international agreements.
American officials didn't participate in the inquiry and have so far steered clear of commenting on the report.
When asked to comment about the report, however, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, told Reuters: "Mr. Arar was deported under our immigration laws. He was initially detained because his name appeared on terrorist lists; he was deported according to our laws."
He said the United States always seeks to assure itself that anybody it deports will not be tortured.
Arar was detained in New York on Sept. 26, 2002 under suspicion that he had ties to al Qaeda.
After 13 days in detention, American authorities sent Arar to Jordan, and from there to Damascus, where he was imprisoned for almost one year.
An independent fact-finder has subsequently corroborated Arar's claims that he was tortured by Syrian officials while in jail.
The telecommunications engineer, who was travelling with a Canadian passport at the time, also claims he was forced to make a false confession about his involvement in terrorist activities.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060919/arar_folo_060919/20060919?hub=Canada
In a report made public on Monday, Justice Dennis O'Connor wrote that the RCMP passed misleading, inaccurate and unfair information to American authorities that "very likely" led to Arar's arrest and deportation to Syria, where he faced torture.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe rose in the House of Commons during question period on Tuesday to ask the prime minister how Ottawa intended to act.
"Given the inexact transmission of information to the American authorities that led Maher Arar being sent to Syria and imprisoned for a year, it was even recommended that compensation in the report be given to Mr. Maher Arar," Duceppe said in French.
"Does the government intend to act on the recommendation and compensate Mr. Arar?" he asked.
Duceppe also asked the prime minister if he would raise his concerns with Syrian and American officials on his visit to the United Nations on Thursday.
Most of the judge's 23 policy recommendations centred on the RCMP and emphasized the need to improve the force's internal policies for national security investigations and the sharing of information with other countries.
But O'Connor also recommended that Ottawa file formal protests with the U.S. and Syrian governments.
Harper said that the government planned to act according to O'Connor's recommendations but did not pinpoint what action Ottawa would take nor did he say whether the government would file a diplomatic protest with the U.S. or Syria.
"It is clear that there was injustice against Mr. Maher Arar and we intend to act," Harper said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton also went after Harper on his plan of action regarding Arar, demanding that he apologize to Arar immediately.
"Canada must apologize to Mr. Arar and to all his family. He suffered torture, he was taken away from his family, he was humiliated, he was dragged through the mud because Canada let him down," Layton said Tuesday.
"Why is the prime minister refusing to rise in this House and on behalf of the government of Canada, on behalf of all of the citizens of Canada? Why is he not apologizing to Maher Arar today, right now?"
Harper remained guarded in his response, repeating that he agreed a "great injustice" was done to Arar.
"The government will base its action on those recommendations, I understand that Mr. Arar has legal proceedings against the federal government and I await discussions amongst lawyers to reach a satisfactory result and which will satisfy Mr. Arar."
A damage suit by Arar against Ottawa was put on hold during O'Connor's inquiry. Both sides have agreed to mediation talks, but those meetings are not scheduled until next January.
Stockwell Day responds to critics
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, meanwhile, said the government would not fire RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, as some critics have demanded.
"We're not taking any precipitous action related to the RCMP,'' Day said, adding the government would "move forward'' on O'Connor's recommendations related to the police force.
Irwin Cotler, Liberal opposition critic for public safety, said officials who anonymously smeared Arar with false accusations of involvement in terrorism before and after his 2003 return from Syria "should be held accountable.''
Arar expressed his satisfaction at the report and called for the government to take action.
"I have always said that I want whoever is responsible for this to be held accountable, to make sure that this doesn't happen to any other Canadian. it is really up to the Canadian government to decide how to do this," he said Tuesday, appearing on CTV's Canada AM.
When asked whether it would satisfy him to see the Zaccardelli lose his job or resign, Arar repeated again that it was up to the government to make that decision.
"But I don't think we should really look at the role of Canadian officials as a whole and I don't think it's only a single official who is to be blamed for this," he said.
The RCMP said it was still reviewing the report.
In the meantime, the Arar commission report is drawing attention to the Bush administration's response to the Arar case.
A New York Times story pointed out that O'Connor concluded American authorities treated the Arar case "in a most regrettable fashion'' and dealt with Canadian officials "in a less than forthcoming manner.''
Americans, for example, denied Arar's request to speak with the Canadian consulate in New York after he was taken into custody there, which is considered a violation of international agreements.
American officials didn't participate in the inquiry and have so far steered clear of commenting on the report.
When asked to comment about the report, however, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, told Reuters: "Mr. Arar was deported under our immigration laws. He was initially detained because his name appeared on terrorist lists; he was deported according to our laws."
He said the United States always seeks to assure itself that anybody it deports will not be tortured.
Arar was detained in New York on Sept. 26, 2002 under suspicion that he had ties to al Qaeda.
After 13 days in detention, American authorities sent Arar to Jordan, and from there to Damascus, where he was imprisoned for almost one year.
An independent fact-finder has subsequently corroborated Arar's claims that he was tortured by Syrian officials while in jail.
The telecommunications engineer, who was travelling with a Canadian passport at the time, also claims he was forced to make a false confession about his involvement in terrorist activities.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060919/arar_folo_060919/20060919?hub=Canada
