Racial Profiling; Maher Arar and Wife Monia Mazigh

From the Wednesday, October 17, 2007, Toronto Star,Greater Toronto section, page A7, here is an article about racial profiling, featuring the story of Maher Arar and the comments of his wife, Monia Mazigh:

MAHER ARAR'S WIFE CALLS FOR HONEST DEBATE
Racial profiling must be acknowledged before we can eradicate it, Monia Mazigh tells symposium

Debra Black
Staff Reporter

Racial profiling should be acknowledged and discussed so Canadians can actively eliminate it from society, says the wife of Maher Arar, the Canadian who was wrongly arrested by American authorities, interrogated and then sent to Syria where he was tortured.

Sadly, scholars and the media neglect it, Monia Mazigh told a symposium on racial profiling at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education yesterday. "We should raise it, discuss it, eliminate it from our society. But first we need to acknowledge it."

Police and government authorities often deny it, she said. But she knows first hand that it exists, she told the audience. "I experienced it myself.... Five years ago my husband and myself were labelled 'Islamic extremists' by the RCMP and CSIS."

But neither she nor her husband was ever told why. Perhaps it was because she wore a headscarf, her husband had a beard, or because they prayed five times a day, she speculated at the seminar, which was sponsored by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

As a consequence of that label, Arar was interrogated by U.S. authorities, arrested, imprisoned, sent to Syria, tortured and, about a year later, freed. A federal inquiry recently cleared his name and Ottawa paid him $10.5 million in compensation. He still remains on a U.S. no-fly list. The reason for that is unknown to either Arar or his wife.

The consequences of racial profiling are severe, said Mazigh. Communities feel marginalized and humiliated and the economic consequences can also be devastating with people losing their jobs simply because they've been interviewed by CSIS, she said.

Law enforcement agencies cannot rely simply on religion or appearance to start an investigation, she said.

"I had courage to speak out and denounce the treatment," she said. But not everyone does. She encouraged anyone who has experienced racial profiling to protest loud and long.

Racial profiling is not new to Toronto or, for that matter, Canada, a series of experts told the symposium. Young, black males have been experiencing racial profiling in Toronto for years, experts said. Indeed they said racial profiling has been an ongoing historical problem in Canada - one that has had and will continue to hae grave ramifications for all Canadians.

Five years ago, the Toronto Star published a special investigation into racial profiling by Toronto police, said Carol Tator , an anti-racism and equity teacher at York University's anthropology department. That series sparked a lot of denial and debate, said Tator, who along with colleague Frances Henry wrote a book about racial profiling in Canada.

The book was triggered by the Star series and examined the practice of racial profiling and how police culture reinforces racism.

In the series, the Star found after analyzing hundreds of thousands of criminal charges that blacks charged with simple drug possession were taken to a police station more often than whites facing the same charge. The data also showed a disproportionate number of black motorists in the database were ticketed for offences that routinely would come to light after a traffic stop.

Racial profiling doesn't keep citizens safe from violence, Tatlor said. "It is violence.... It can be argued that racial profiling by the police is the proverbial canary in the coal mine. Racial profiling exists in many of our democratic institutions."

Afghan: No NATO Run Prisons

Human rights organizations and the media have written about the plight of Afghan detainees turned over by NATO forces, such as Canada, Britain and the Netherlands, to Afghan prisons where they face being tortured.

From the Saturday, November 17, 2007, World section of the Toronto Star, page AA2, an article about the dismissal of a possible solution to this problem:

GENERAL RULES OUT NATO-RUN PRISON
Remarks follow claims of abuse in Afghan jails

Allan Woods
Ottawa - Setting up separate NATO-run jails to hold battlefield detainees who might otherwise be tortured is out of the question, the alliance's military chief says.

Gen. Ray Henault, the Canadian chair of NATO's military committee, said creating detention facilities that are run by the International Security Assistance Force, would put too much demand on the already difficult Afghanistan mission and undermine the Afghan government, which has responsibility for its own penal system.

"We consider this to be something done in concert with international standards. That's the way we intend to continue dong business," Henault said.

The Canadian policy of transferring detainees to Afghan prisons is being challenged in court by Amnesty International, which is seeking an end to all handovers until the country's jails are free of abuse.

The federal government released thousands of pages of files this week showing Canadian officials have been aware of the deplorable state of Afghanistan's prisons for some time, and are currently investigating seven allegations that Canadian detainees were tortured in Afghan custody.

The most recent allegation came to light in the first week of November and was verified by local authorities who are now deciding whether to lay criminal charges.

Liberal MP Denis Coderre said the documents prove "Canada has violated the Geneva Convention" and "must stop the transfers, bring back the prisoners and respect this convention."

Henault rejected accusations there is "systematic" torture in Afghan jails, or at the hands of its secret police, and said he is not aware of any individual cases of abuse.

"But it would probably be inappropriate for me to say that there is nothing like that that ever happens in Afghanistan."

An aide to Henault added that probes of torture allegations are "going to put the pressure where it needs to be, which is on the Afghan government." Indeed, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has already warned the country's police against using physical abuse and has launched an inquiry into torture allegations.

In the meantime, Henault said responsibility for improving the country's prisons falls to organizations like the Red Cross. Afghanistan's human rights body and the government, not NATO.

Unemployment Insurance Bias Against Women

From the Business section of the Toronto Star, Tuesday, November 22,2007, page B8, an article about the inherent bias against women in Canada's Unemployment Insurance (EI) system:

EI STRUCTURE BIASED AGAINST WOMEN, STUDY FINDS

Canadian women are being unfairly shortchanged by the country's Employment Insurance system, which was made more restrictive a deade ago and now boasts a $51 billon surplus, a recent study concludes.

The study for the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, to be released today, finds the qualification requirements for EI have left many women who lose their jobs out of pocket, despite having paid their fair share of premiums.

In fact, the study finds as many as two in three working women who pay into EI don't receive a penny in benefits if they lost their jobs.

"Because so few of them qualify, they're subsidizing the benefits for men, who are more likely to qualify, and that doesn't seem fair," study co-author Monica Townson said in an interview.

Statistics Canada data show that 40 per cent of unemployed men received EI benefits in 2004. For women, the figure was only 32 per cent.

"The rules seem to be based on the standard male job of full-time, full year," Townson said.

"A lot of women are in non-standard jobs - part-time, temporary work, contract work and that kind of thing - so it's very difficult for them to get the hours in a lot of those cases."

Because of their child-rearing and family responsibility roles, women are required to take prolonged periods of time out of the workforce, something men usually don't.

When a woman does return to work after a few years, she is required to re-qualify for EI from scratch by working at least 910 hours in the most recent 52-week period.

"It doesn't take account of the fact that women have to be out of the workforce for periods to look after their children and that may make it harder for them to qualify for benefits," Townson said.

The report recommends taking a longer-term view to determine eligibility. "A longer-term perspective would help women in the patterns that (women) have of paid and unpaid work," Townson said.
The Canadian Press

Turning a Blind Eye to Uganda's Human Rights Record

From the Saturday, November 24, 2007, Toronto Star, World section, page AA3, an article about the hypocrisy of Commonwealth countries in ignoring Uganda's record on human rights:

'DOUBLE STANDARDS' SLAMMED
Opposition accuses Commonwealth of hypocrisy for ignoring Uganda's disturbing rights' record

Richard Brennan
Ottawa Bureau

Kampala - The Commonwealth is turning a blind eye to the fact that Uganda is one of the most oppressed countries in world where murder, corruption and intimidation is systemic, says the leader of the main Ugandan opposition.

"The level of corruption in Uganda is unprecedented," Kizza Besigye, leader of the Forum for Democratic Change, told Canadian reporters yesterday.

Besigye said it was the height of hypocrisy for Uganda to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which espouses the values of human rights, democracy and an independent judiciary.

"We are quite disappointed with the Commonwealth, mainly for being unable and unwilling to promote and uphold its own principles," he said.

Up to 100 protesting opposition supporters gathered near the summit site yesterday and were attacked by police wielding batons and sticks, Beti Kamya, an opposition MP, told Associated Press.

The crowd responded by throwing empty bottles and stones, she said.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will be chair of the Commonwealth for the next two years, and outgoing secretary general Don McKinnon of New Zealand has been quick to defend criticism of Museveni's government.

Besigye said the Commonwealth clearly displays a "double standard," referring to the fact it suspended Pakistan's membership this week for imposing emergency rule and jailing thousands of people who opposed President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's heavy hand, while conditions in Uganda are as bad or worse.

He accused the governing party, the National Resistance Party, of bribing members of the parliament to support amending the constitution to void term limits, allowing Musveni to run a third time.

Museveni yesterday defended the move, saying other Commonwealth countries don't have term limits.

Besigye, a former personal physician to Museveni, was jailed in 2006 on charges that included treason and rape, and during his time in prison he was nominated as a presidential candidate. While campaigning, he was handcuffed to a man charged with killing eight tourists.

"For the entire period of the campaign, I was busy in court defending myself against charges of rape," which were determined to be unfounded, he said.

Besigye said the presidential election was marred by violence - "including the open killing of our supporters here in the town of Kampala," as well as ballot stuffing and vote buying.

When Helena Guergis, Canada's secretary of state for foreign affairs, was told about Besigye's comments, she replied: "Duly noted."

Besigye also said it is shameful to have the government spend $150 million to host the Commmonwealth leaders when most Ugandas live in abject poverty.

"This expense is undertaken against the background of extreme poverty" and the fact that thousands of people have lost everything in recent floods with no help from the government, Besigye said.

"Not even one shilling has arrived in the emergency area ... but we are happy to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a talk show,"he said.

The Persecution of the Falun Gong by China and Western Media

FromThe Epoch Times, epochtimes.com, Opinion section, December 6-12, 2007, page A47, a disturbing article on the CBC giving more credence to the Chinese government than to Amnesty International, the United Nations and Human Rights Watch in re-editing a documentary to give what the Chinese government had to say about the Falon Gong than to the Falon Gong themselves or the human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

What planet is CBC on that they are not aware of the Chinese government's human rights record in its treatment of ethnic and other groups and on human rights defenders and freedom of speech? Do they think China has cleaned up its record of human rights abuses since its brutal put down of dissenters in Tiananmen Square?

The CBC is not the only media to give more the Chinese government more credence than the Falun Gong. This is so ugly. It is like reporting about the Holocaust primarily from the viewpoint of the Nazis.

I wonder whether the media bias has to do with right-wing conservatives controlling more media than they ought and not wanting to harm trade relations.

Or do too many journalists not have enough comprehension that where human rights are concerned, the perpetrator of the abuse cannot be trusted to tell the whole story. Amnesty International's and Human Rights Watch's whole purpose of being is to shine a light on the dark places in the world where there are human rights abuses. If Amnesty says there are abuses and people are in jail because governments do not allow freedom of association and speech and press, are television or print journalists so stupid or lazy that they cannot see what the world's conscience is telling them? Unfortunately, there must be some of this at work and we have seen it happen before on an entirely different issue.

Global warming skeptics gave media the runaround for at least a decade - long after scientists knew and had already expressed their grave concerns about climate change.
Jounalists never educated themselves enough to know there was only one credible side to this story. There are all kinds of stories about global warming now, particularly in print media in almost every section of the paper - business, news, living, houses, cars - I even saw one in sports. But at least a decade of educating the public was wasted.

The media blindness (or the interfering by and blindness of media management) to this particular record of human rights abuses is tantamount to complicity in it. If Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say there is persecution or torture or human rights abuses, no one but a fool or someone or some organization corrupted by business or power or other self-interest would say otherwise. But maybe they are just following the federal government's lead, as they don't support human rights at home or abroad either.

WHY SUCH MEDIA RELUCTANCE TO REPORT ON THE PERSECUTION OF FALUN GONG?

By Michael Mahonen
Special to The Epoch Times

The CBC's recent re-editing of director Peter Rowe's documentary "Beyond the Red Wall: The Persecution of Falun Gong: resulted in numerous international media reports that were highly critical of the decision. While this criticism is valid, the CBC should be both appreciated for at least airing an edited version as well as criticized for sweeping away some evidence that director Rowe had delivered to their doorstop.

In fact, the vast majority of media, including some who criticized CBC, have reported very little about the persecution of Falun Gong, even though the persecution has been investigated and confirmed by Amnesty International, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, the U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Watch and others.

While the Chinese Communist regime (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Gong in the early morning hours of July 20, 1999, practitioners were literally dragged out of their beds and bussed to sports stadiums, many of which were filled over capacity. The occurred on a mass scale across China. It was ferocious, unexpected and shocked practitioners. The CCP's own survey in late 1998 has estimated 70-100 million Chinese were practicing Falun Gong. The planning for such a large scale, organized attack had to be months in the making.

Of course the accompanying avalanche of propaganda against Falun Gong was also well planned in advance. It targeted not only the citizens in China, but the international community as well, since the CCP was well aware of the negative effects from the international community after the massacre of students on Tiananment Square in 1989. This time the propaganda and justification for their actions were planned carefully.

Names such as "evil cult" were spread by the CCP to an international community, which knew next to nothing about Falun Gong at the time. Falun Gong practitioners didn't have the chance to contemplate what was happening before the international community was provided with this strong first impression and sole source of infromation by CCP propaganda.

Western media, having little other information to go on, initially helped to stigmatize Falun Gong by repeating unsubstantiated propaganda by the CCP. These first impressions have left an enduring on the minds of many, including those in the media.

However, when Falun Gong practitioners snapped out of their initial shock and began to provide alternate information to the media, the ink given to the Falun Gong side was grossly minimized in relation to the information from the CCP that was initially reported. This trend has continued to today.

In a thorough, in-depth article published in Compassion Magazine(editor: please createhyperlink for the following link: http://wwfaluninfo.net/Compassion6/Compassion_Edition6.pdf), Leeshai Lemish examined 1,879 media articles written about the persecution of Falun Gong that appeared in the leading newspapers and wire services of the English speaking world such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, AP and Reuters. CCP sources were "cited as the main sources of news in the headline or opening paragraphs of articles about Falun Gong four times as often as Falun Gong sources and three times as often as rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In other words, for every article with a headline like: 'Falun Gong Woman Says She was Tortured,' four articles had a headline like: 'China Sentences Sect Member."

In another study of 1,308 AP articles, those in which Falun Gong reported practitioners dying from torture in custody, Mr. Lemish found that the CCP was given the opportunity to directly respond 50.2 percent of the time. When the CCP made major accusations toward Falun Gong, such as claiming practitioners died from refusing medical treatment or suicide, Falun Gong was given a chance to respond only 17.9 percent of the time.

Imbalance continues today
In an article by the Canadian Press, head of news for CBC, John Cruickshank, made a telling comment regarding the Red Wall controversy, "The Falun Gong - they want it all their way. They wanted it basically to be their show. Peter Rowe used an awful lot of Falun Gong footage, and just at a certain point we got uncomfortable with the degree to which we were basically putting their show on to television without there being a reflection about what was actually credible."

This program was made by Peter Rowe, a non-practitioner. In what way is it Falun Gong's show? Due to the fierce restrictions in China, there are only two types of footage I've seen taken by Falun Gong. One is of torture victims on the verge of death, reminiscent of emaciated Holocaust victims, including the case of Ms. Gao Rongrong, the lower half of whose face was charred and covered with large scabs from multiple burns by electric batons.

The other type of footage is taken on Tiananmen Square showing practitioners among large crowds of people being violently attacked by Chinese police while holding banners and calling for an end to the persecution. Red Wall included some of this latter footage, with on-screen labels stating it was footage taken by Falun Gong. The practitioners who took the footage risked their personal safety and even death to show the world what is happening. Yet somehow this is dimished to Falun Gong wanting it 'all their way."

This isn't a competition for airtime, or an endeavor for attention, or an unsubstantiated claim of political struggle as the CCCP states when it serves their propaganda aims of the moment. Before the perseuction began, Falun Gong had nothing at all to say about the CCP.

This is a full on, brutal persecution of innocent people - including the elderly and children - on a mass scale that has been verified by the top international bodies mentioned above. People are dying as I type these words and will be dying as I type these words, and will be dying when they're read.

In the CP article, Mr. Cruickshank stated in reference to CBC personnel in Beijing "Our guys are good... They had seen an early version of the script and they were horrified by it - they said that what was being treated as truth in this show was not accepted by any credible organization." There are many valid points of evidence presented in Red Wall, even in the CBC's edited version. To what exactly is Mr. Cruickshank referring? This blanket statement insinuates uncertainty over the program as a whole. To say that no credible organization accepts what is presented in Red Wall is grossly inaccurate and irresponsible.

What his guys in Beijing should be horrified by is the persecution itself, for which they have not produced a single substantial report since it began over eight years ago. Granted, this must be taken in context, considering that covering the persecution of Falun Gong is one of the most- if not the most - difficult, obstructed, guarded and dangerous journalistic endeavors in China. This is what makes the footage shot by Falun Gong practitioners so valuable. Yet is is utilized as a point of contention and to draw suspicion against those who risked their lives to shoot it and then send it out of China.

If the unspecified rationale from CBC's guys in Beijing is solid enough to elicit a reaction so strong as to re-edit a previously approved program produced by a veteran, trusted director, one must ask where these guys in Beijing suddenly turned for such conclusive information on the persecution of Falun Gong, considering they've produced nothing in the past.

One must also question why, for eight years, the CBC has all but totally ignored first-hand accounts of persecution sent out of China at great risk by the victims themselves. Certainly if their guys in Beijing can so quickly invalidate the initial version of Red Wall with such all-inclusive certainty, they must be able to substantiate or deny at least some of these reports from the actual victims. Why such one-sided certainty and effort to dismiss evidence of persecution, while ignoring reports of the persecution for so many years?

The intent here is not to solely criticize CBC, as there has been neglect on this issue by almost all major media. But CBC had a rare and valuable opportunity delivered to their doorstep. However, they not only swept away some of the most vital evidence, but dminished the urgency of the matter by accusing the abused party - which provided some of the most compelling footage in the program at the risk of their own lives (free of charge!) - of some petty attempt to have the program "be their show."

This disturbing lack of clarity must be addressed directly when the stakes are so high.

In a National Post article, CBC splokesman, Jeff Keay said, "We wanted to have a credible and solid piece of work out there, because I suspect, at the end of the day, we will have the Chinese government upset with us and we will have some Falun Gong members upset with us."

Beijing denies the persecution outright, despite the masses of evidence compiled by human rights organizations that prove otherwise. Beijing denies abusing practitioners, torturing practitioners, killing practitioners, and all other abuses which have been confirmed. Beijing is upset any time the persecution is exposed. They are the persecuting party. CBC should not be concerned about what Beijing thinks whatsoever. Of course Beijing will be upset.

David Matas, co-author of a report on the illicit harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners' organs, said in the same National Post article, "The notion that CBC would pay any attention to Chinese concerns is evidence they've lost all perspective," and continued, "The CBC becoming a vehicle of Chinese government propaganda - even under the notion that it's balanced coverage - is not responsible journalism."

Considering the CBC's fastidious and controversial extraction of actual evidence of persecution from the program, it is curious that they retained the numerous denials and accusations made by the Chinese Embassy spokesman who did not even attempt to provide any substantiating evidence whatsoever.

CBC extracted evidence revealing the two most damning events undertaken by the CCP: organ harvesting and the so-called self-immolation.

The immolation is the single most crucial event that turned perception of Falun Gong around in the minds of people in China as well as many around the world. The footage was played constantly on China's state controlled media, complete with follow up reports and masses of commentary by CCP appointed experts. To some, the incident brought to mind a quote atributed to Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, peeople will eventually come to believe it."

The footage was also played in Western media, the shocking images leaving a deep impression on viewers. The response allowed Falun Gong was a one line denial that the immolators were not Falun Gong practitioners.

Practitioners in China deconstructed the video footage in the report, finding many inconsistencies, uncertainties and contradictions. This led to the production of a video, which when made available to the public, caused the CCP to edit footage out of their initial report before re-broadcasting it further.

Although many points of contradiction, evidence and inconsistencies were raised in the deconstruction video and presented to international media, it was met with virtual silence. Broadcasts of the immolation had already made a deep impression in the minds of views and readers, but the other side was not given a voice. This voice was once more diminished in the CBC version of Red Wall. I urge all readers to view the deconstruction of the so-called self-immolation and judge for themselves: www.falsefire.com

With more and more third parties confirming the facts of persecution in China and calling for an end to the atrocities, including Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhishen (who has been detained for a second time, current whereabouts and well being unknown), defecting Chinese consular official Chen Youglin, defecting Chinese policeman Hao Fengjun, high ranking CCP officials Wang Ahaojun and Jia Jia, along with an increasing number of other brave individuals speaking out in China against the persecution of Falun Gong, Western media would be hard pressed to further justify its silence.

There are many signs of the imminent collapse of the CCP. When that time arrives there will be no more stifling of voices from the many friends and relatives of Falun Gong practitioners who are also suffering through various forms of persecution and who have witnessed immense suffering of their loved ones. The small percentage of police officers and CCP officials of conscience will also speak out.

The voices of the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners themselves will no longer be ignored as documentation of abuses will be compiled. At this point there will be no need for media to fulfill its responsibility of revealing this massive atrocity. But people will be demanding to know why they hadn't.

Waterboarding Explained

Torture and human rights abuses are never acceptable, ever, under any circumstances. And I mean any. There are ethical and moral ways of treating prisoners and prisoners of war. Just think of the world's abhorrence over the Abu Ghraib prison photographs of prisoners being humiliated and mistreated. Waterboarding is inhumane and inappropriate under any circumstances. End of story.

Treating people, even prisoners, even alleged terrorists, in a humane fashion, like you would wish to be treated, is never the wrong thing to do. As Gandhi said: "An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind."

EX-AGENT BACKS 'TORTURE' TECHNIQUE

A former CIA agent who was part of an interrogation team were public with his account yesterday saying the waterboarding of a top al Qaeda figure was approved at the top levels of the U.S. government.

John Kiriakou, a leader of the team that captured top terror suspect Abu Zubydah, said waterboarding worked - it forced Zubaydah to talk in less than 35 seconds.

Waterboarding is a harsh interrogation technique that involves strapping down a prisoners; covering his mouth with plastic or cloth and pouring water over his face.

The prisoners quickly begins to inhale water, causing the sensation of drowning.

Critics say the technique is torture.

AP

Changing Laws for Same-Sex Couples in Nova Scotia

From the October 8, 2007, Maclean's, Newsmakers section, page 77, an article about to women in Nova Scotia who could get legally married there but who could not have both names on the birth certificate of their child.

JAMIE AND EMILY O'NEILL
TWO PROUD MOTHERS

Until last week, two women could legally marry in Nova Scotia, but if they wanted to have children together, only one could be listed on official records as the mother. That all changed when the province hastily amended their rules following a human-rights complaint lodged by Emily and Jamie O'Neill. The two women married two years ago and they decided to have a baby through artificial insemination. Emily is the biological mother of a bouncing baby girl, Jordyn, who was born on Aug. 7. But when they registered the birth, Jamie was told by officials that the only way she could be registered as a parent was if she were to adopt Jordyn. A same-sex couple, could in effect, share a marriage certificate, but not a birth certificate. Last week the O'Neills filed a human-rights complaint and within days the government revised the regulations.

Tasered to Death

It seems unimaginable that a man was tasered to death in an airport, because no one in immigration could figure out that he was Polish speaking and did not speak English and after 10 hours got frustrated and combative. Still there was no need for four RCMP officers, still only speaking English to the man, to Taser him. For a country that prides itself on its multi-culturalism, this seems to be a terrible blot against an RCMP force and immigration and security staff in an international airport.

Here is an article from the Wednesday, November 21, 2007, Toronto Star, Canada section, page A21, about an apology from the Public Safety Minister and information on the incident. The four officers have been assigned elsewhere.

DAY APOLOGIZES FOR 'TRAGIC INCIDENT'
Lawyers' groups calls for Taser moratorium in wake of deaths

Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau

Ottawa - Five weeks after a man died after being shot with a Taser at the Vancouver airport, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day followed the British Columbia government's apology with one of his own.

"This was a tragic incident that took place. We never want to see it happen again," Day told reporter yesterday at a news conference.

I'm sorry it took place. I think all Canadians are sorry it took place and we want to make sure it never happens again. That's why there are a number of inquests at a variety of levels."

Later yesterday, Day's office announced he had appointed an independent reviewer to assess the RCMP's use of Tasers.

Paul Kennedy, head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, is to submit an initial report by Dec. 12. Day said Kennedy will review RCMP protocols on how the stun guns are supposed to be used and whether Mounties are following them.

Earlier, Day stopped short of apologizing on behalf of the RCMP, saying "men and women in uniform" deserve the benefit of the presumption of innocence in an incident that would lead to criminal charges.

He noted the officers involved in the Oct. 14 Vancouver incident have been reassigned to other duties while various reviews, including a public inquiry called by the B.C. government, are underway. Day said the Canada Border Services Agency, which has been under fire for its silence, will release a report on the incident in the coming days.

Concerns continue to mount about the use of Tasers in Canada.

The Criminal Lawyers' Association of Ontario yesterday wrote a letter to the federal public safety minister ot call for an embargo on the use of the stun guns and a national inquiry into their use by law enforcement in Canada.

Lawyer Frank Addario said in an interview a broader inquiry is needed given that there have been 17 deaths over the past few years as a result of Taser use.

On Monday, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said his government would launch its own public inquiry because of a "vacuum of information" from all authorities involved in the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

Dziekanski, 40, who spoke no English, spent hours in a seure baggage claim area of Vancouver International Airport awaiting his mother, who was not allowed into the secure area. A bystander's videotape shows the final agitated 10 minutes of his life, and his agonizing death after RCMP officers stunned him with a taser less than a minute after approaching him.

Oppal said no explanation was forthcoming from the authorities involved. "We thought someone might step up and offer an explanation about what happened. You think of the repercussions here and the public deserves answers."

Federal Liberal public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh said while "any apology that comes is appropriate," Ottawa should show "leadership" by consolidating all the reviews into one inquiry.

Meanwhile, RCMP in Chilliwack, BC., face questions over another Taser incident. A 29-year-old man was in critical condition after a violent struggle Monday with police who were trying to subdue him at a Fraser Valley-area store. Police used pepper spray, Taser, batons and finally extra officers to take the man into custody.

RCMP say the unidentified man suffered lacerations to his head.

With files from The Canadian Press

Challenging Discrimination Against the Disabled

From the Thursday, November 22, 2007, Greater Toronto section of the Toronto Star, page A12, an inspiring article about a student with significant physical disabilities and learning disabilities who has become a human rights activist:


WE'RE ALL DIFFERENT AND THAT'S OKAY
Gifted student 'stirs the pot' with diversity message

Daniel Girard
Education Reporter

Connor Steele wants to be an English professor so he can "challenge the boundaries of accepted knowledge."

Consider the first 17 years of his life Act I.

Born with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and learning disabilities, Steele has defied conventional wisdom that says it means reduced intellect and a substandard quality of life.

A gifted student, he took top academic honours last spring among Grade 11 students at Bradford District High School - with a 96 per cent average. Along the way he's acted in a school play, been on student council, launched a book club in hopes of boosting literacy test scores and started a homework cafe.

Steele is also active in human rights and environmental causes and launched a letter-writing campaign on behalf of Bradford's gays and lesbians after seeing them discriminated against.

"We're all different and that's okay," Steele said in an interview yesterday before making a presentation to educators in Mississauga.

"But we've all got something to offer, something worthy of respect."

That was the message Steele delivered to an after-school diversity workshop of 150 teachers, staff and administrators from the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. With a mixture of personal experience and humour, he spoke of how technology has "brought peace" to the long-standing debate over how to integrate people with special needs into the school system.

"Because of technology, I am free to choose whether to go inside or out, whether to study torts or Tolstoy," said Steele, who uses a motorized wheelchair and adaptive technology programs for reading and writing.

Still, he said, widespread discrimination remains for people with disabilities, as it does for any others considered different from the mainstream.

"It's so important for educators to hear a current student's voice," said Chris D'Souza, equity and diversity officer with the board and organizer of the workshop. "If they have an understanding that this uniqueness has to be addressed, then they can make better accommodations within their classroom and adapt their curriculum to reflect it."

D'Souza said that while schools have done better in recent years in understanding their shortcomings, "we've still got a long way to go." Visible-minority and disabled teachers are under-represented in classroooms, he said, and the curriculum needs to be more inclusive, for example, by showcasing more diverse protagonists in literature classes.

Until that happens in schools and across society, Steele vows to be there, "stirring the pot" for those who are oppressed.

"I'd like it better if I didn't have to," he said. "I'd like it more if the world didn't require my posturing."

Canada's "Moral" Behaviour: Only When It Suits Harper & Washington

From the Sunday, November 18, 2007, Toronto Star, Canada section, page A8, is an article about Prime Minister's Harpers selectively moral foreign policies.

HARPER'S 'SELECTIVE' MORALS BAD NEWS FOR DESERTERS

Thomas Walkom

The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the refugee appeals of two U.S. Army deserters should come as no surprise.

Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey do not qualify as refugees under the United Nations definition used here. They are not fleeing political persecution; they do not face torture. They are merely trying to escape what they - and most Canadians - see as an unjust Iraq war.

This does not mean that the pair should be sent home to face court martial. Quite the reverse. If Canada's federal government had the inclination to face down Washington just a bit, both men - who almost certainly qualify for permanent resident status - would be welcomed, not as refugees but as landed immigrants. That's how Canada treated U.S. draft dodgers and deserters from the Vietnam War. And it worked out fine.

However, it is most unlikely that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will take this path.

True, he has promised to deal with foreign affairs "on moral grounds." But his is a selective form of morality. Harper is willing to go to bat against countries that the U.S. criticizes - like China. But he is not willing to take on those that President George W. Bush deems friends. And he is certainly not willing to take on Washington itself.

Nowhere is this double standard more apparent than in the government's approach to Canadian citizens detained abroad.

Harper has been outspoken in his defence of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian tried and convicted in China earlier this year on charges of terrorism.

Harper has raised Celil's case personally with the Chinese leadership. In July, then foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay rebuked China again, saying that "due process for this Canadian citizen was not followed and his rights were not respected."

Compare this to Ottawa's tepid response in the case of another Canadian, Bashir Makhtal, who has been languishing for months in an Ethiopian jail. Makhtal was seized at the Kenyan border last December as he tried to escape Somalia's latest bout of mayhem and handed over illegally - to the Ethiopian army. While he hasn't been formally charged with anything, it seems that Ethiopia suspects him of connections to a separatist group it regards as terrorist.

Yet from Harper, there has been radio silence. The reason? Ethiopia is America's proxy in the Horn of Africa. Its invasion of Somalia to depose an Islamic government (the invasion that caused Makhtal to flee) was sanctioned and militarily supported by Washington.

In this context, it seems, the Canadian government finds a mere Canadian citizen expendable.

But nowhere is the double standard more apparent than in the case of Omar Khadr, another Canadian imprisoned abroad on charges of terrorism. Khadr faces trial in a setting so unfair that it makes the Chinese justice system look reasonable.

He can be convicted on the basis of secret evidence and statements obtained under torture. In the unlikely event that he is acquitted, his captors have reserved the right to keep him in jail anyway.

Yet Ottawa insists that the process if fair. That's because Khadr's human rights are being abused not by Beijing but Washington. And this government does not wish to irritate Washington.

For the two U.S. deserters, none of this is good news. Their ability to remain in Canada depends on the federal government's willingness to accommodate U.S. war resisters.

Alas, there is little likelihood of this. This government won't protect even its own citizens without U.S. clearance. It is unlikely to help Americans trying to escape Bush's wars.

Thomas Walkom's, column appears Thursday and Sunday.