The current case before the Federal Court of Appeals in which the Government of Canada seeks to overturn an order to act to aid Omar Khadr may represent the denouement of a long running war waged by the old Reformists against the courts of Canada. This case may prove to be an interesting test.
The government has elevated this case to a level from which a substantive precedent may be established. By arguing that the Courts are interfering in foreign policy they seek to place such policy outside of the constitutional framework within which the government is normally bound to act. Their argument of 'executive privilege' has a very Bush like tone to it and represents a dangerous erosion to our systems of checks and balances that is intended to ensure there are limits on the power individuals may exercise in office. To place the Prime Minister and his cabinet outside of these constraints is to open the gates to a form of absolute power. The government's gambit may have in fact exposed their position in such a way that the Courts will have no choice but to rule against them.
The second point in the government's primary argument is that there is no obligation for the government to act to protect Canadian citizen's abroad. Such an absurdist position reflects the Kafkaesque treatment of Abdelrasik
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Meeting my brother...
Late last year I received a phone call from one of my sisters. She asked me to sit down because she had some startling news to tell me. It seems we have a brother - one none of us had ever met. Our father had been away overseas from 1939 to 1945 and shortly before he returned our mother had become pregnant by another man. The child, Hugh, was placed for adoption and never mentioned to us.
Then last year, feeling the need to find out his family medical history, and perhaps to finally meet us, knowing Gwendolyn is an Anglican priest, he tracked us down through the church. I expect my sister though I would be shocked to find this out but my immediate response was simple delight that I had a brother. Hugh and I spoke by telephone but he was in North Sydney while I am in Calgary.
Then yesterday I finally got to meet him in person. I had been told and had see from photos that he is a lot like my maternal grandfather, Sam Swyer, Pa. There is no mistaking the resemblance. He has that quiet presence that big men often do. While he is soft spoken there is a real glint in his eye, something I clearly remember from Pa. Now that I have met him and his wife Sybil, the idea that I actually have a brother is more concrete but I also recognize that his presence represents a major change in my life. Just what that means is something I still have to sort out.
Then last year, feeling the need to find out his family medical history, and perhaps to finally meet us, knowing Gwendolyn is an Anglican priest, he tracked us down through the church. I expect my sister though I would be shocked to find this out but my immediate response was simple delight that I had a brother. Hugh and I spoke by telephone but he was in North Sydney while I am in Calgary.
Then yesterday I finally got to meet him in person. I had been told and had see from photos that he is a lot like my maternal grandfather, Sam Swyer, Pa. There is no mistaking the resemblance. He has that quiet presence that big men often do. While he is soft spoken there is a real glint in his eye, something I clearly remember from Pa. Now that I have met him and his wife Sybil, the idea that I actually have a brother is more concrete but I also recognize that his presence represents a major change in my life. Just what that means is something I still have to sort out.
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