Harper rebuffs legal concerns over bombing Syria (with video)
Prime Minister Stephen Harper brushed aside questions Wednesday about Canada’s legal right to bomb Syria, ridiculing the opposition by saying he wasn’t worried about “lawyers from ISIL taking the government of Canada to court.”
The Conservatives and opposition MPs begin debate Thursday on a motion to expand Canada’s war against the Islamic State by ordering air strikes against ISIL targets in Syria. Previously, Canadian warplanes had been restricted to operating in Iraq. Only the U.S. and five allied Arab countries have dropped bombs in Syria.
The government says it will not seek the Syrian government’s permission to drop bombs, given its view that Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy as Syrian president. But the opposition wants to know whether such attacks, inside another country without that government’s authorization, would violate international law.
In a heated exchange in the House of Commons, NDP leader Tom Mulcair asked Harper if the Iraqi government had requested Canadian help to protect its citizens by bombing ISIL in eastern Syria. Such a request was key to the U.S. government’s legal justification for conducting air strikes without the Syrian government’s permission last September.
Mulcair also asked if Canada had informed the United Nations of its plan to launch such attacks in Syria, as is required under Article 51 of the UN Charter. Article 51 lets countries respond to any armed attack against them, or at the request of a country that has been attacked. It was also central to the U.S. position last year.
Harper did not specifically answer either question. Instead, he said Canada was following the “same legal basis” as the U.S. and other allies.
“I’m not sure what point the leader of the NDP is making,” the prime minister added. Then, to laughter from government benches, he added, “If (Mulcair) is suggesting that there is any significant legal risk of lawyers from ISIL taking the government of Canada to court and winning, the government of Canada’s view is the chances of that are negligible.”
Mulcair responded, “Extraordinary, Mr. Speaker, living in a Canada, where that sort of idiocy passes for an argument.” The comment drew a mild rebuke from House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer.
A Conservative source later told the Citizen the government will be sending a letter to the UN in the coming days.
Harper rebuffs legal concerns over bombing Syria (with video) | Ottawa Citizen
Prime Minister Stephen Harper brushed aside questions Wednesday about Canada’s legal right to bomb Syria, ridiculing the opposition by saying he wasn’t worried about “lawyers from ISIL taking the government of Canada to court.”
The Conservatives and opposition MPs begin debate Thursday on a motion to expand Canada’s war against the Islamic State by ordering air strikes against ISIL targets in Syria. Previously, Canadian warplanes had been restricted to operating in Iraq. Only the U.S. and five allied Arab countries have dropped bombs in Syria.
The government says it will not seek the Syrian government’s permission to drop bombs, given its view that Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy as Syrian president. But the opposition wants to know whether such attacks, inside another country without that government’s authorization, would violate international law.
In a heated exchange in the House of Commons, NDP leader Tom Mulcair asked Harper if the Iraqi government had requested Canadian help to protect its citizens by bombing ISIL in eastern Syria. Such a request was key to the U.S. government’s legal justification for conducting air strikes without the Syrian government’s permission last September.
Mulcair also asked if Canada had informed the United Nations of its plan to launch such attacks in Syria, as is required under Article 51 of the UN Charter. Article 51 lets countries respond to any armed attack against them, or at the request of a country that has been attacked. It was also central to the U.S. position last year.
Harper did not specifically answer either question. Instead, he said Canada was following the “same legal basis” as the U.S. and other allies.
“I’m not sure what point the leader of the NDP is making,” the prime minister added. Then, to laughter from government benches, he added, “If (Mulcair) is suggesting that there is any significant legal risk of lawyers from ISIL taking the government of Canada to court and winning, the government of Canada’s view is the chances of that are negligible.”
Mulcair responded, “Extraordinary, Mr. Speaker, living in a Canada, where that sort of idiocy passes for an argument.” The comment drew a mild rebuke from House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer.
A Conservative source later told the Citizen the government will be sending a letter to the UN in the coming days.
Harper rebuffs legal concerns over bombing Syria (with video) | Ottawa Citizen
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