Liberal prep for upcoming session, possible election

Finally the Liberals are developing a platform that will give Canadians something to judge the Liberals by--and no doubt will provide a target for Conservative critics. Notice that the party spokesperson is for the most part Ralph Goodale rather than Ignatieff. Somehow I doubt that Ignatieff will try to defeat Harper with polls as they are at present. Of course Harper could insist on goading Ignatieff to such a degree that he will be more or less forced to call an election. Harper escaped more or less unscathed from the last fracas so one never knows what he might do. The Liberals at this point seem completely vague about whether there will be an attempt to bring down Harper or not. Different Liberals say different things!

Liberals prep for upcoming session, possible election


By Juliet O'Neill, Canwest News ServiceAugust 30, 2009 2:01 PM



Federal Liberals will gather in Sudbury, Ont., on Monday to plot strategy for a parliamentary session that could plunge Canadians into a fall or winter election campaign.
They will weigh in on how soon to attempt to defeat the Harper government and discuss a campaign platform that spells out an eight-year vision of where Canada should be in 2017, the country's 150th birthday.
Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale said the three-day caucus will cap a summer of preparations to "participate in a very vigorous session of Parliament this fall and to run an election campaign if it comes to that."
The final decision on whether to try to pull the plug on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government is up to Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
"That decision has not been taken," Goodale said. "But there is a rising feeling in the country that this is a mediocre government and it's just not good enough."
Senator David Smith, co-chair of the Liberal campaign, played down speculation an election would be triggered at the first opportunity in early October, soon after the Sept. 14 resumption of Parliament.
"I think it would be very short-sighted of any leader of any party not to be election ready when you're in a minority situation," he said.
"That isn't to say we'll be pushing an election button every day, because I think Michael Ignatieff has consistently taken the position (that) we want to make Parliament work and we're well aware of the fact there were three elections over a four-year period - '04, '06 and '08. But we'll be holding them accountable."
Under an agreement between Harper and Ignatieff that averted a spring election, the government will face seven opposition days by the end of December, any of which could be a test of confidence.
A confidence vote would also be held if the government presents any tax or spending measures. The New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois would have to unite with the Liberals to defeat the Conservatives who hold 143 of 308 seats in the House of Commons.
The Liberals' first chance to submit a non-confidence motion will be three days after the government submits its third economic accountability report during the week of Sept. 28. The second chance is between late October and mid-November.
Smith and Goodale said the Liberals would not defeat the government solely on the issue of employment insurance eligibility rules, an issue that was sent to a bipartisan working group for the summer under the Harper-Ignatieff agreement and on which little progress has been made.
"Fixing employment insurance is only one dimension of what needs to be a much larger economic and social package," Goodale said.
He said the Liberals have seen no progress on other issues on which they faulted the government before the summer recess.
As well as seeking a national standard for EI access, the Liberals accused the government of failing on delivery of stimulus funds for infrastructure projects, spelling out deficit reduction and dealing with the isotopes shortage.
"Those are all symptomatic of issues of competence, issues of honesty, issues of divisiveness in the government's style of governance and issues of values," Goodale said. "There will be a significant number of factors, not just one issue."
Some Liberals say Ignatieff will face a fatal blow to his leadership if he triggers an election and does not win at least a minority government.
A minority is considered the likeliest scenario for either the Conservatives or the Liberals, given a steady stream of polls showing equal support for both main parties and neither party shining in Quebec, where the separatist Bloc Quebecois remains strong.
Goodale said the election platform is "well advanced" and will contain a positive vision about Canada's future, using the 150th anniversary of Confederation as a benchmark for education, health and economic security.
He said the platform will be designed to contrast a positive, forward-looking Ignatieff against Harper's "negative, almost pathological partisanship."
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Manitoba NDP plan for leadership convention

There should be enough candidates to choose from to replace Doer but none will have as prominent a profile as Doer. Blaikie is probably the best known but as the article notes there are plenty of other potential contenders.
I find it strange that everyone in the Manitoba NDP is applauding Doer for accepting the appointment. Apparently it makes no difference that he will be serving under a Conservative right wing government whose policies in most cases are completely at odds with the NDP!


Man. NDP plan for leadership convention

CBC News
Premier Gary Doer meets with reporters on Parliament Hill Friday following his appointment as ambassador to the United States. (CBC)
Manitoba's New Democrats are meeting Monday to plan for a leadership convention to replace outgoing Premier Gary Doer.
Doer was introduced Friday in Ottawa as Canada's next ambassador to the United States, a day after surprising many political observers by announcing he was stepping down as premier.
No one in the party is tipping their hand as to who Doer's possible successor might be. Bill Blaikie, the popular former NDP MP who is now a provincial MLA, is widely viewed as an obvious choice.
Potential candidates also include high-profile MLAs such as Finance Minister Greg Selinger, Health Minister Theresa Oswald, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Steve Ashton and federal MP Pat Martin, among others.
When Ashton called a press conference Friday afternoon, there was speculation it was to announce he was throwing his hat into the leadership ring. Instead, Ashton told reporters the day belongs to Doer and that the entire cabinet is proud of his appointment.
When pressed on whether he would take a shot at the premier's chair, Ashton was non-committal but said he expects it to be a great race because there are several strong candidates.

Doer named Canadian Ambassador to Washington

This seemed to be a well kept secret even though the decision was made several weeks ago. Obviously Doer was being coy when he made no mention of what he was going to do when he said he would resign the other day.
Doer is certainly staid, safe, and middle of the road enough to serve as U.S. ambassador. Don't expect him to start spouting NDP policy about immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan. In fact don't expect him to do too much of anything, particularly anything radical or that would rock the boat. Perhaps Harper will not mind if he says something about Arctic sovereignty though! Just shut up about Khadr.
I am a bit surprised that Harper would chose Doer. I thought he would choose one of his own party as a reward for loyal service.


Doer named Canada's next U.S. ambassador

CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with Gary Doer, Canada's new ambassador-designate to the United States, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)Gary Doer was introduced Friday in Ottawa as Canada's next ambassador to the United States, a day after surprising many political observers by announcing he was stepping down as premier of Manitoba.
"I was really honoured to have the offer, and I really appreciate being the ambassador-designate," he told reporters shortly after a morning meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"So this will be the first time in my life I have to be diplomatic," said Doer, a 61-year-old Winnipegger.
Doer was cagey about when he was specifically asked to take on his new role, saying he had a conversation with Harper over the last couple months.
“It was a conversation about due diligence.”
CBC News learned, however, that the decision to name Doer to the Washington position was made a few weeks ago.
Doer said in 2007 he had also discussed with Harper about moving on after 10 years as premier, the precise length of time Doer has been in his job.
The Manitoba premier's appointment still has to be approved by the U.S. government, but that is considered a formality.
Questioned about how he can reconcile his NDP views with a Conservative prime minister, Doer said the public is not interested in partisan politics when politicians are working for the best interest of Canada.
“The public actually wants all of us from different political parties to compete when we’re in election campaigns and work together in the public interest after a campaign.”
He said he has a history of working with people from all political parties.
'Very important challenge'
Earlier, Harper congratulated Doer on the successful conclusion of his political career in Manitoba and hailed him as a "strong advocate" for good relationships with the United States.
"Look forward to seeing you in Washington," Harper said.
The longtime NDP premier thanked the prime minister, saying he recognized the position is a "very important challenge."
"I know I am part of a great Canadian team," he said during a photo opportunity with Harper.
Michael Wilson, the current ambassador and a former Conservative finance minister, has been in the post since March 2006.
'Not going to be watching soaps'
Doer was coy about his future plans when he announced his resignation as Manitoba's 20th premier.
"What am I going to next? Well, I'm not going to be watching soaps," he almost giddily told his news conference.
Doer did not provide the exact date of his resignation, saying only it would likely be in the fall after being decided in consultation with his party.
At his announcement Thursday, Doer said he wanted to go out on his own terms and felt it was a good time. Sources told CBC News that Doer wanted his resignation to be announced in his own city, in front of Manitobans, and not as part of a bigger announcement.
Doer is following the career path of former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna.
The Liberal politician also stepped down on his 10th anniversary of becoming premier, and then went on to represent Canada in the United States.
"It's a great job for a former politician," McKenna told CBC News. "They understand how politics works. Someone like Gary Doer has great diplomatic sense, and I think he'd be a great fit with the back channels and social scene down there."

Ex-coach, Tory insiders among new senators..

Huh! Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin are non-partisan! What planet do the CTV news staff inhabit? Duffy was noted for his bias in favor of Conservatives and picked on poor Dion mercilessly. Wallin was appointed by Harper to complement the other co-operative folk on his ïndependent"Afghan committee.
We have another bunch of political hacks appointed to Senate along with others. I guess this shows the senate is an equal opportunity employer with Harper now appointing Conservative hacks to match Liberal hacks---along with some notably able exceptions on both sides.
Personally I agree with the NDP that the best solution would be to abolish the Senate but failing that an elected Senate is surely preferable to an unelected one.


Ex-coach, Tory insiders among new senators
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has railed against the Senate and championed a plan to make it an elected body, has appointed some of his closest Conservative insiders to the Red Chamber - as well as a Stanley Cup-winning coach who has fought a lifelong struggle with illiteracy.
Jacques Demers, who coached the Quebec Nordiques and Montreal Canadiens, among other NHL teams, is now a Conservative senator representing Quebec. His appointment was announced earlier on Thursday, on the website of television network RDS. Demers has been working for that company as a hockey analyst.
Demers made news several years ago by speaking publicly about his difficulties in overcoming illiteracy.
Also filling out the nine vacancies in the Upper House:
Doug Finley, Harper's election campaign chair, appointed as an Ontario senator.
Don Plett, president of the Conservative Party of Canada and National Councillor, representing Manitoba
Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, who recently stepped down from her post as Harper's director of strategic communications, has been rewarded for her more than seven years of service. (New Brunswick).
Dennis Patterson, former Northwest Territories premier (Nunavut).
Claude Carignan, a lawyer and mayor of Saint-Eustache (Quebec).
Linda Frum Sokolowski, a Canadian journalist and bestselling author (Ontario).
Kelvin Ogilvie, scientist and past president of Acadia University (Nova Scotia).
Judith Seidman, health expert and long-time community service worker (Quebec).
During his time as opposition leader, Harper said he would never make patronage appointments to the Senate.
When asked about how he could reconcile the appointments with his earlier statements, Harper replied: "At the time when there will be elected senators, I intend to elect senators."
"But at the moment, it's only Alberta that organizes such elections," he told reporters in French at a Thursday afternoon news conference in Quebec City. "Now we have nine vacant seats in the Senate, and I intend to have senators that will support the elected government."
Harper has tried to reform the Senate by making it an elected body. After the opposition Liberals blocked the move, the prime minister appointed 18 senators over the Christmas break last year.
Many of those appointees were considered nonpartisan, helping to avoid tough opposition criticism. Journalists Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, and Olympic skier Nancy Greene Raine were among those awarded seats.
Now it seems Harper is moving towards balancing out the Liberal-dominated Senate by appointing a number of Conservative-minded Canadians to the role.
"He called the Senate 'a dumping ground' for the favoured cronies of the prime minister," said Roger Smith, a parliamentary correspondent with CTV in Ottawa. "Well, he's appointing some of his favoured cronies apparently."
The Tories are expected to control 45 out of the 105 seats in the Senate with the new round of appointments, Smith said.
On Thursday morning, the federal Liberals reacted to the anticipated announcement by issuing a statement about "Senate Harpocrisy." It lists quotes by the prime minister in which he refused to make Senate appointments.
"There will obviously be outrage from the opposition today, but you're going to have to take that with a grain of salt," Smith said. "The Liberals did this for years."
In a statement, the NDP said the new senators will cost Canadian tax payers $3 million per year.
"I think it just shows really that Mr. Harper's not behaving any differently than we used to see with the Liberals," NDP Leader Jack Layton told CTV News Channel.
"That means when we do finally retire the Harper government, (the Senate) will be packed with Conservatives to block the legislation of any future government coming in. It just shows how crazy this system really is," Layton said.
"Having an unelected body that's able to block or pass laws is something that modern democracies got rid of years ago."
Senators receive about $134,000 per year for their work, plus expenses. They're eligible to hold the position until age 75, at which time they must retire.

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer to resign..

This is rather surprising. Surely Doer must have something lined up for after he steps down. There must be some establishment position open for a safe establishment ""leftist"". The opposition in Manitoba has so far never been strong enough to really mount any effective attack on Doer. Doer for his part has been cautious and able to govern in a manner that has avoided any fatal mistakes. As the article mentions there are people ready to take over from Doer but whether the electorate will continue to support the NDP remains to be seen. The main opposition will be the Conservatives but so far they haven't been able get their act together sufficiently to challenge the long reign of the NDP in Manitoba.


Manitoba Premier Gary Doer says he's stepping down, date to be determined
By Chinta Puxley (CP) – 2 hours ago
WINNIPEG — Canada's longest serving current premier is calling it quits.
After a decade in the top office, Manitoba NDP Premier Gary Doer surprised the province Thursday by announcing he's stepping down.
The so-called "Teflon premier," who has always walked a careful line between cutting small business taxes and bolstering social programs, wouldn't say when exactly he will leave and what he'll do next.
"You're going to ask me the exact date of when I'm leaving, and I'm going to do that in consultation with the party," said Doer, looking relaxed and upbeat with his wife Ginny at his side.
"You're going to ask me who do you think is going to replace me, and I'm not going to answer that question. And you're going to ask me what am I going to do next. Well, I'm not going to watch soaps."
"I had planned to step down in and around this 10-year period. I hadn't planned on telling any of you ahead of time."
Doer, 62, was first elected in 1986 and joined the NDP cabinet.
He became party leader two years later following the defeat of then NDP premier Howard Pawley. Doer led the party from the opposition benches for 11 years.
In 1999, he won the first of three consecutive majority governments.
Having spoken to other politicians whose careers were cut short by a lost election, Doer said he wanted to leave at a time of his choosing.
"I think it's important that you go out on your own terms as an individual but you also go in a way that allows your party to renew and the government to renew and the public to have a renewed sense of energy," he said.
Although he recently gave a keynote address at the federal NDP's general meeting in Nova Scotia, Doer was coy about whether he will remain in the public eye.
"Being premier is the pinnacle of public service and you never say never, but my plans are to move on," he said.
"I've got a lot of energy. I've been offered all kinds of opportunities over the years ... I've got lots left in the tank."
Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton called Doer's departure "a shock", but said the premier is "respected all across the country."
"He's done a lot to reach out to all parts of the country, helping to bring the premiers together with the federal government around a variety of issues," Layton told CBC Newsworld.
Paul Thomas, political studies professor at the University of Manitoba, said Doer managed to change the image of the NDP in Manitoba from a "tax-and-spend party" to one that lowered business taxes and balances the books. Manitoba's budget has been balance for 10 years in a row.
His shrewd nature and knack for negotiation made it possible for him to work with people of all political stripes, including Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Thomas said.
"Lots of people don't like Harper, but Doer would never sacrifice gains for Manitoba by having an outraged encounter with Harper," he said. "He may not be warm, personal friends with Harper, but he knows he has to work with Harper."
While in office, Doer made it his mission to push Manitoba's renewable energy sources, including the province's wealth of hydroelectric power.
Affable and easy-going and often seen walking around town without an entourage, Doer's personal popularity has regularly scored higher in opinion polls than his party.
One of his biggest political assets was Doer's ability to connect with people both at the ballpark and in the boardroom. Before politics, Doer was a guard at a youth jail in Winnipeg.
It was Doer's face, not those of local candidates, that adorned most NDP lawn signs in the last provincial election campaign.
His personal popularity has kept many potential leadership contenders from surfacing up until now.
Names circulating as possible successors include Finance Minister Greg Selinger, Health Minister Theresa Oswald and even Bill Blaikie, the former federal NDP member of Parliament who won a seat in the Manitoba legislature in March.

Ignatieff tries to dispel election rumours.

Obviously Ignatieff thinks that there can be good government even with the Conservatives in power. Must be because there is a coalition agreement between them and the Conservatives. If the Conservatives alone can provide good government why bother voting for the Liberals? Ignatieff is hopeless as a leader. He is so busy thinking and worrying about Conservative criticism if he promotes specific policies that he comes out looking like a scared lame duck leader.
Layton will be happy if Ignatieff continues denying that he will force an election. Layton can go on opposing the Conservatives and the Liberals without worrying about an election being called.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff tries to dispel election rumours in Yellowknife
August 25, 2009 - 11:42
THE CANADIAN PRESS
YELLOWKNIFE - Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is showing the party flag in the Northwest Territories.
During a visit to Yellowknife Ignatieff tried to dispel rumours of a fall election. He says federal Liberals want good government, not an election.

But he says Canada has a $50 billion deficit and 1.5 million unemployed and the Harper government isn't doing enough to deal with the situation.

Ignatieff says it's important for Northerners to be involved with and benefit from local resource industries such as diamond mining and natural gas.
During his visit Ignatieff visited a diamond polishing operation, toured the Buffalo Airways hangar and spent time with kids at the Yellowknife Daycare Association.

Layton see no reason to back Harper

Of course Layton has no reason to back Harper at present. Reasons will pop up only when the Liberals and Bloc support a non-confidence motion and he is faced with the choice to force an election or support the Tories. Otherwise he can confidently vote against the government every time. However if NDP polls are poor and the Conservatives or Liberals are riding high this will certainly provide a reason for supporting the Conservatives. Of course he can always claim that Canadians do not want an election too so that he is doing everyone a favor. Also, there are some who need to serve a bit longer to get fat pensions.


Layton sees no reason to back PM

With election talk in the air, NDP Leader finds ‘fundamental differences' with Tories
Gloria Galloway
Ottawa — From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009 09:20PM EDT
NDP Leader Jack Layton spent an hour behind closed doors chatting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper Tuesday, but said he walked away with nothing that would forestall a fall election.
“I didn't see any change in direction on the part of the government in my conversation with Mr. Harper,” Mr. Layton told reporters during a news conference after the meeting.
Mr. Layton said he raised the case of Suaad Hagi Mohamud , the Toronto woman who was stranded in Kenya because federal officials didn't believe she was Canadian. The people of Canada need to know procedures are in place to protect them, the NDP Leader said.
Mr. Layton said he pressed Mr. Harper to adopt policies to improve pensions, create jobs, end high credit-card fees and improve the situation of the unemployed. But Mr. Harper, he said, doesn't seem to understand “the depth of the unemployment situation and how it can get worse, and the urgency of an additional stimulus package.”
Party leaders traditionally meet before the fall session of Parliament to determine areas where they share common ground. But this meeting, and those that may follow, are of heightened interest because election threats are in the air.
The Liberals will have an opportunity to introduce a motion of no-confidence in Mr. Harper's Conservatives as early as Sept. 30.
Mr. Layton frequently boasts that his party has voted against the government on every confidence motion that has been put before Parliament since the Conservatives took office in 2006.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper responds to a question from NDP Leader Jack Layton during the French language election debate in Ottawa on Oct. 1, 2008.
He said Tuesday that “the NDP would be the least likely of the political parties to support the Conservatives in office because we have very fundamental differences with the direction that they're taking the country.”
But he stopped short of a definitive statement that the New Democrats would not back the Tories.
Former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin cut a deal with Mr. Layton in 2005 for the NDP to prop up his government in exchange for assurances that social issues of key interest to New Democrats would be addressed.
Asked if Mr. Harper had expressed any willingness to follow the same route, Mr. Layton said no. “I would have to say there wasn't an indication of interest along those lines.”
Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Mr. Harper, said the government has, in fact, done some of things Mr. Layton has proposed.
“The unfortunate side of that is that on 79 occasions, the NDP has voted no-confidence in this government since the last election,” said Mr. Soudas.
“The meeting was cordial. But it's also clear to us that the NDP want to work with the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois. I think that Mr. Layton asked for the meeting so he can pretend he's not working with his coalition partners, but the reality is that he is.”
Mr. Soudas was referring to the failed coalition between the New Democrats and the Liberals under former leader Stéphane Dion that threatened to bring down the government shortly after last fall's election.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has said he will introduce a no-confidence motion if the Conservatives do not sufficiently reform the employment insurance program to help people who have lost their jobs during the economic downturn.
However, during a trip to Yellowknife yesterday he sought to play down talk of a fall vote, saying his party wants good government, not an election.
With a report from The Canadian Press

Harper appeals Khadr verdict

Harper has been consistent all along in his kissing U.S. ass to much applause of many of his reactionary supporters. This will delay any attempt to return Khadr to Canada. Khadr was a child when he allegedly threw the grenade that killed a US service person. No matter. He may have been tortured. No Matter. The system of military tribunals under which Khadr is to be tried is widely regarded as unjust and certainly does not meet the standards of the US civil legal system. No matter. Khadr is faced with a serious charge and the U.S. is a great beacon to the Free World and the trials represent our Free World values of no habeas corpus and torture as part of a justifiable legal system.

In all this Obama has been completely silent. I guess it is because it has nothing to do with the U.S. reform of health care.



'We will not make it easy for the government': lawyer for Guantanamo Bay detainee
Ottawa will seek to overturn an appeal court ruling that it must demand his repatriation. (Janet Hamlin/Pool/Associated Press)
The federal government will appeal to the country's top court to quash a ruling forcing Ottawa to press for the release of Canadian Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay, the Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed Tuesday.
The Federal Court of Appeal earlier this month upheld a lower-court ruling that required Ottawa to try to repatriate Khadr, the only Western citizen still being held by the U.S. at its military base in Cuba.
"After careful consideration of the legal merits of the ruling ... the government has decided to seek leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court" of Canada, Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The government has filed a motion to stay the Appeal Court's decision pending its application to the Supreme Court, the statement said.
Dennis Edney, Khadr's Canadian lawyer, said he will argue that the country's top court should not hear the case.
"We will not make it easy for the government," Edney said from Edmonton. "The ruling indicated this was a unique decision, a one-off decision, based upon the particular circumstances of Canadian conduct and Omar Khar's situation. It's not an issue of national security, it's not an issue of national importance, and we will be telling the court that."
Toronto-born Khadr, 22, was captured by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15, and has been held at Guantanamo Bay for seven years. The U.S. accuses him of throwing a grenade that killed U.S. soldier Christopher Speer, but leaked documents have called into question the Pentagon's murder case against Khadr.
On Aug. 14, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a Federal Court ruling that ordered Ottawa to press for Khadr's return from Guantanamo.
In a 2-1 judgment, the Appeal Court found that Khadr's rights under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the rights to life, liberty and security of person — had been breached when Canadian officials interviewed him at the prison in Guantanamo in 2003 and shared the resulting information with U.S. authorities.
Other countries have intervened
Some other Western countries have intervened to get their citizens out of Guantanamo, but the Canadian government has maintained that because of the seriousness of the charges, Khadr should face military proceedings in the United States.
"Our position regarding Mr. Khadr remains unchanged," the Foreign Affairs statement said. "Omar Khadr has been accused of serious crimes, including murder."
With the swearing-in in January of U.S. President Barack Obama, who vowed to close Guantanamo and repatriate all but its most serious prisoners, it seemed the issue of Khadr's detention would soon be immaterial. But the Obama administration has never laid out its intentions for Khadr, and it now seems the Guantanamo tribunals might still proceed.
"President Obama has not communicated any decision to the government of Canada with respect to the case of Mr. Khadr," Foreign Affairs said Tuesday, adding "it is in our interest to wait for the outcome" of the White House's decisions on the Guantanamo tribunals.
The military commission process, a cornerstone of former president George W. Bush's approach, has been hobbled by court findings that it violates the American constitution, as well as by allegations that it breaches international law and that crucial evidence was extracted under torture — which Khadr's lawyers say happened to him.
Deprived of sleep
A Canadian official visiting Khadr in 2004 in Guantanamo Bay was told the U.S. military was depriving the then 17-year-old of sleep for weeks to make him "more amenable and willing to talk."
Human rights advocates say that because Khadr was 15 when captured, he is entitled to protection under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the U.S. has signed. The convention’s Optional Protocol says anyone under age 18 in armed conflict are to be treated as victims needing rehabilitation, not hostile agents to be imprisoned.
According to the original U.S. military version of events, Khadr ambushed American soldiers with a grenade following a four-hour firefight against al-Qaeda militants at a mud compound in Afghanistan in 2002.
Pentagon officials later backtracked slightly after it was revealed nobody witnessed Khadr throw the grenade. Military officials said an eyewitness wasn't needed, because Khadr was the only militant left alive and the only person who could have thrown the grenade.
But a classified Pentagon document inadvertently released to reporters in February 2008 suggested otherwise. The document, a sworn first-hand account of the gun battle from an American soldier, said two combatants were left alive in the compound when Speer was killed.'We will not make it easy for the government': lawyer for Guantanamo Bay detainee
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 12:00 PM ET Comments39Recommend25
CBC News
Omar Khadr is shown in a sketch from a hearing at Guantanamo Bay in January. Ottawa will seek to overturn an appeal court ruling that it must demand his repatriation. (Janet Hamlin/Pool/Associated Press)
The federal government will appeal to the country's top court to quash a ruling forcing Ottawa to press for the release of Canadian Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay, the Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed Tuesday.
The Federal Court of Appeal earlier this month upheld a lower-court ruling that required Ottawa to try to repatriate Khadr, the only Western citizen still being held by the U.S. at its military base in Cuba.
"After careful consideration of the legal merits of the ruling ... the government has decided to seek leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court" of Canada, Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The government has filed a motion to stay the Appeal Court's decision pending its application to the Supreme Court, the statement said.
Dennis Edney, Khadr's Canadian lawyer, said he will argue that the country's top court should not hear the case.
"We will not make it easy for the government," Edney said from Edmonton. "The ruling indicated this was a unique decision, a one-off decision, based upon the particular circumstances of Canadian conduct and Omar Khar's situation. It's not an issue of national security, it's not an issue of national importance, and we will be telling the court that."
Toronto-born Khadr, 22, was captured by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15, and has been held at Guantanamo Bay for seven years. The U.S. accuses him of throwing a grenade that killed U.S. soldier Christopher Speer, but leaked documents have called into question the Pentagon's murder case against Khadr.
On Aug. 14, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a Federal Court ruling that ordered Ottawa to press for Khadr's return from Guantanamo.
In a 2-1 judgment, the Appeal Court found that Khadr's rights under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the rights to life, liberty and security of person — had been breached when Canadian officials interviewed him at the prison in Guantanamo in 2003 and shared the resulting information with U.S. authorities.
Other countries have intervened
Some other Western countries have intervened to get their citizens out of Guantanamo, but the Canadian government has maintained that because of the seriousness of the charges, Khadr should face military proceedings in the United States.
"Our position regarding Mr. Khadr remains unchanged," the Foreign Affairs statement said. "Omar Khadr has been accused of serious crimes, including murder."
With the swearing-in in January of U.S. President Barack Obama, who vowed to close Guantanamo and repatriate all but its most serious prisoners, it seemed the issue of Khadr's detention would soon be immaterial. But the Obama administration has never laid out its intentions for Khadr, and it now seems the Guantanamo tribunals might still proceed.
"President Obama has not communicated any decision to the government of Canada with respect to the case of Mr. Khadr," Foreign Affairs said Tuesday, adding "it is in our interest to wait for the outcome" of the White House's decisions on the Guantanamo tribunals.
The military commission process, a cornerstone of former president George W. Bush's approach, has been hobbled by court findings that it violates the American constitution, as well as by allegations that it breaches international law and that crucial evidence was extracted under torture — which Khadr's lawyers say happened to him.
Deprived of sleep
A Canadian official visiting Khadr in 2004 in Guantanamo Bay was told the U.S. military was depriving the then 17-year-old of sleep for weeks to make him "more amenable and willing to talk."
Human rights advocates say that because Khadr was 15 when captured, he is entitled to protection under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the U.S. has signed. The convention’s Optional Protocol says anyone under age 18 in armed conflict are to be treated as victims needing rehabilitation, not hostile agents to be imprisoned.
According to the original U.S. military version of events, Khadr ambushed American soldiers with a grenade following a four-hour firefight against al-Qaeda militants at a mud compound in Afghanistan in 2002.
Pentagon officials later backtracked slightly after it was revealed nobody witnessed Khadr throw the grenade. Military officials said an eyewitness wasn't needed, because Khadr was the only militant left alive and the only person who could have thrown the grenade.
But a classified Pentagon document inadvertently released to reporters in February 2008 suggested otherwise. The document, a sworn first-hand account of the gun battle from an American soldier, said two combatants were left alive in the compound when Speer was killed.

Layton's Address to the NDP National Convention

This of course is a rah rah propagandistic speech but then it is meant to enthuse the party rank and file so this is not surprising. The press tends to portray the NDP as old hat and going nowhere but as Layton points out it has made several breakthroughs recently including winning federal seats in Quebec and Alberta and electing a provincial government in Nova Scotia. This is not exactly going nowhere even though the federal polls have not made any breakthrough for sure.
Layton is surely right that emphasis is often upon green shoots and signs that the economy is bottoming out or growth is actually slightly positive rather than the fact that unemployment is actually increasing and because of budget constraints the social safety net is being eroded while poverty is growing.

Jack Layton's address to the New Democrat National Convention
Sun 16 Aug 2009
Bonjour. Good morning.
I’d like to begin by acknowledging that we are meeting here in traditional Mi’kmaq territory. Please join me, on behalf of all New Democrats, in sending our condolences to the family of courageous Mi’kmaq activist Donald Marshall Jr., who died last week. Donald’s heroic struggle for the rights of his people brings to mind the long struggle for the residential-schools apology that took place in the House of Commons a year ago.
But an apology is never complete until action has been taken. And that hasn’t been done.
Let’s get it done.
Now friends, how about this convention?
I’ve got to tell ya, I’ve had so much fun here in Halifax this weekend, that I’ll be humming Farewell to Nova Scotia/your sea-bound coast for months to come. I get the feeling you’ve enjoyed yourselves too. How about a big thanks to everyone who put this great convention together!
I came here thinking about the faces of the many Canadians who told me that they feel abandoned by their government this summer. Too many Canadians need help and aren’t getting it.
And I also came here thinking of my beautiful new granddaughter, Beatrice.
We need to build a better world for the next generation. So I hope you’re leaving here, as I am, with a new vision of the kind of Canada that New Democrats want.
A Canada with a government whose priority is serving all Canadians. A government that works with us, not against us. A government on your side. Not one mired in the old thinking, but a government based on new thinking.
And a Canada whose government is helping to generate good jobs for our children, so that one in five young people wouldn’t be unemployed, as they are today. This summer I met students who told me they can’t afford to go back to school. Their debt loads are crushing. They haven’t got a job. They’re losing hope. Well, we can’t let that happen.
A member of our caucus told me about a widow whose husband worked at Abitibi Bowater. She was told that her pension was being terminated. She and her husband had worked their fingers to the bone, only to be cast aside after company executives decided to abandon the forest, the mill and her, all with the permission of a government that refused to help.
And she’s not alone. Seniors across this country told me they are worried about how they are going to make ends meet. We can’t let that happen in our Canada.
While Mr. Harper and Mr. Ignatieff do their election dance, they’re letting people wait.
People needed help last spring, but they did nothing. People need help this summer, but Mr. Harper and Mr. Ignatieff are still doing nothing. People will need help this fall, yet the only thing that they are talking about an election.
It’s their obsession. As for us, our obsession is to help people weather this crisis.
Last night, I was speaking with a delegate about the challenges that lie ahead for New Democrats. We talked about those who are quick to say: It can’t be done.
I love it when people tell me that.
It can’t be done.
You’ll never elect an MP in Quebec.
It can’t be done.
You’ll never grab a seat in Alberta.
It can’t be done.
You’ll never build a beachhead in Newfoundland and Labrador.
It simply can’t be done.
And my favourite these days: You’ll never elect an NDP government in Nova Scotia.
Tell that to Premier Darrell Dexter.
Or tell Premier Gary Doer that winning a third majority can’t be done. And what about a fourth?
When I hear that phrase I think of Tommy Douglas and of all the people who said to him when he began campaigning for Medicare during the Depression: it can’t be done.
Saskatchewan can’t afford it, they told him.
You’ll never balance the budget, they told him.
It can’t be done.
But Tommy and our whole movement saw that people were suffering without health care. They needed help. It was the right thing to do. And Tommy got it done.
Tommy did it by budgeting carefully. But most importantly, he set out a vision of a government that serves everyone, a government that sees people not as consumers, but as full participating citizens in our society.
As Canadians, new and old, we’re proud of our country. We’re proud of the way we treat each other, our open-heartedness, our generosity of spirit, the way we help each other out when disaster strikes.
Nobody has to tell a Canadian during a flood, Hey, can you help fill sandbags? Or in winter: Can you help shovel a sick neighbour’s walk. People just step up. I’ve seen it all across this country and so have you.
Yet we have a government that doesn’t seem to share these values. Mr. Harper’s greatest legacy will be the impoverishment of our social programs that we created to help people in times of need.
Mr. Harper believes that government should get out of the way, get rid of regulations and let the free market go to town. The Conservatives - and the Liberals - are true believers in this right-wing agenda. We’ve seen it. They rewarded greed. And they are leaving so many in need. And that’s why, now, during this recession, we need a government that’s working with us: a New Democratic government.
We believe that when people lose their job, they need access to Employment Insurance benefits. We believe in protecting workers’ pensions. And we believe that the bonuses given to pension-fund executives, whose funds lost money last year, should be given back
I met a woman in Oshawa who told us at a big public meeting -- and it wasn’t easy for her -- that she was laid off and used a part of her modest severance to cover her parents’ mortgage payment. They were trying to hold on to the family home because they’d both been laid off by GM. Her father was in tears as he took the check. He told her: “I was supposed to look after you.”
This has got to change, friends. It’s got to change.
We’re in the midst of the worst recession since the 1930s. But they are putting on the rose-coloured glasses again on Bay Street. They do that whenever there’s an upward tick on the TSX. Bank economists are saying, Wow, we’re in recovery. But at the same more and more people are being thrown out of work. This coming winter, thousands more of our family members, friends and neighbours are going to lose their jobs. Even the most optimistic economists say unemployment will keep rising until 2010. But, they say, that’s to be expected in any recovery. What kind of defeatist attitude is that?
And how is it that the CEOs who made the most reckless investments were given the most help in this recession?
So where was the help for the rest of Canadians? There are still hundreds of thousands of people getting the door slammed in their face when they try to get EI.
Poverty is growing even faster than the unemployment rate. And in this recession, as Roy Romanow has said, it’s going to be “much more difficult to climb out of poverty than it used to be.”
That’s because the social safety net we once had has been torn to shreds.
Ask yourself, What caused this recession? Was it the size of your paycheque? Was it your lack of education? Was it a refusal to leave your hometown to find work elsewhere?
No it wasn’t.
This recession was triggered by a carnival of greed among bankers and speculators and mortgage companies. In response, governments elsewhere took strong action on the economy. But not here. It took a poke with a very sharp stick to get Mr. Harper to agree to get moving on the economy.
This summer, I met people at community festivals, in municipal halls, seniors’ homes and church basements, in line-ups at Tim’s and, sadly, outside far too many plants that were shutting down.
Everyone I talked to wanted to know: where’s the help? It’s clear now my friends, that you can’t expect help from the Harper Conservatives. They thought Canada was on the right road before the recession.
And they were wrong. Do you think they’ve now got a vision of a sustainable economy?
Remember when Mr. Harper said he wanted Canada to become an energy superpower? Both he and Mr. Ignatieff want to accelerate tar sands development while sending jobs down the pipelines, toxics down the Athabasca River and acid rain into Saskatchewan. And leave us with an international black eye on climate change.
The world is preparing to gather in Copenhagen late this year to address climate change. Do you really trust what the Harper Conservatives will do for our planet in Copenhagen? I didn’t think so!
We know who you can have confidence in: Premier Darrell Dexter, who just brought in hard caps on carbon emissions. Exactly what is needed.
Here’s another question for you: Do you believe that the Harper Conservatives, or the Ignatieff Liberals for that matter, really will to end our combat role in Afghanistan in 2011?
I didn’t think so.
We want a government that favours diplomacy and development and peacekeeping. That’s why, from day one, we said this conflict cannot, and will not, be settled militarily. That’s why we say again today: support our troops and bring them home.
My fellow Canadians, it’s time to reject the old thinking of complacent Conservatives and Liberals. And it’s also time to cast aside the sterile game-playing that is keeping the Bloc Québécois alive and is gumming up Parliament. We have seen that movie too many times.
My fellow Canadians, it’s time for new thinking. We can’t leave it to the market alone to chart our future. That’s a task for all Canadians.
Can we do it?
Ask Premier Dexter and Premier Doer.
Ask the new Saskatchewan NDP leader, Dwain Lingenfelter
And ask the first woman leader of our party in Ontario, Andrea Horwath.
Ask our smart and dedicated caucus
Ask our new party president, Peggy Nash.
Ask the great candidates we are signing up from coast to coast to coast.
They’ll tell you.
Of course it can be done.
We will undo the legacy of neglect and inequality that the old thinking of the last three decades has left us.
We ask all Canadians to join us, to imagine the Canada we will build together.
In our Canada, the unemployed get the EI benefits and the training that they need.
In our Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Metis are full participants in the new economy.
In our Canada, new Canadians are given help to find good jobs and they don’t have to fear, when they travel abroad, that their passports will be seized and their government will deny their identity.
In our Canada, government protects citizens from the totally unfair practices of banks and credit-card companies.
In our Canada, the disabled are treated with dignity and respect.
In our Canada, families have access to affordable early-childhood education.
In our Canada, climate change is tackled with tough limits on polluters, and a new energy economy, with technologies built here, creating jobs here, and exported to the world.
That’s the Canada we want.
We want to shape an economy that is sustainable and just and creates good jobs.

Harper: Canadians don't want an election.

Harper hasn't met a single Canadian who says we should be having an election right now. But then right now is not the fall. Besides he hasn't met me and I think it would be fine if we were having an election right now.
Ignatieff has been such a lack-lustre no policy leader that the polls will probably not improve much for the Liberals even though Harper seems to be returning to his old game of chicken. He is daring the Liberals to call an election or pass his own legislation on EI, which of course will be in the interests of all Canadians! Maybe the Liberals should bring Dion back, at least he had a policy on the environment and stuck to it and at least he was chosen leader in a genuine contest. Besides Dion has much more experience at caving in and supporting Conservative legislation. Ignatieff is just starting out.


Canadians don't want election, Harper says
Prime Minister plays down differences over EI and insists his focus will be on dealing with effects of recession this fall
Bill Curry
Whitehorse — From Saturday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009
The Prime Minister is playing down differences between his government and the opposition Liberals on Employment Insurance and has repeated his desire for a fall session focused on the economy rather than an election.
Some of Stephen Harper's MPs spoke openly this week of campaigning for a majority government. Liberals are also raising election talk, saying their joint summer meetings with the government to craft EI reforms are not going well. Liberals have accused officials of overestimating the cost of their proposals to make the insurance program accessible to more people.
“The issue of employment insurance is to find better ways to help the unemployed. That's what we're looking for,” said Mr. Harper Friday at an energy announcement with Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie. “Clearly, we are very happy that we are having discussions with the Liberal party, but in the end, the government of Canada must act in the greater interest of Canadians. Clearly, we have proposed our perspective. The opposition, maybe their perspective is a bit different, but we're still talking about these things. I'm confident that this government will make proposals this fall that will be in the interests of the Canadian economy.”
Asked about whether his party is campaigning for a majority, Mr. Harper insisted his focus is on governing this fall.
He said the recession continues to affect Canada even though this country is doing better than most.
“I think the emphasis of all parties in the House of Commons should be working to ensure that we're working on the economy in the fall and that that's our focus,” he said. “And I will say over and over again, I have not met a single Canadian, a single real person out there, whose telling me that they think we should be fighting an election right now.”

A Chronicle of the Honduran coup..

I do not know anything about the group whose website this is taken from nor about the author but certainly the article is filled with fascinating details about how different groups and companies were involved in promoting the coup and trying to discredit Zelaya. Zelaya's real sin is to have passed some modest reforms and upset the elite as well by joining with ALBA and getting cheap oil from Venezuela. From the first Obama's responses have been fishy but Obama's opponents have been most vocal in support of the coup and have opposed even his timid attempts to try to look less as if the U.S. will always support right wing changes in Latin America. Many Americans apparently are not at all abashed at openly supporting reaction.

Honduras: Chronicle of a planned coup
Friday, August 21, 2009 By: Sam Holguin
Mass organizations keep up the struggle
On June 28, the capitalist and U.S. imperialist-backed Honduran military embarked on a new chapter in the long line of military coups in Latin America. In response to news of the coup, President Obama issued the following statement:
“I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya. As the Organization of American States did on Friday, I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference.” (White House Press Office, June 28)In his first words, Obama had already recognized the “social actors,” and had suggested that there should be “dialogue.” His statement was not off the cuff; rather it was meticulously calculated, written with great anticipation and reflection.The statement echoed throughout the world as an apparent political shift away from President Bush’s Latin America stance. What seemed like a simple statement can now be evaluated with an overall analysis of the actions taken since, and those taken by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. embassy in Honduras in the days leading up to the coup d’etat. Manuel Zelaya was elected president of Honduras in November 2005. Initially, he worked on moderate reforms such as fighting against corruption and bringing about small–scale land reform for the country’s poor. Subsequently, Zelaya pushed his social justice agenda forward—incorporating Honduras into Petro-Caribe, an organization sponsored by Venezuela to provide Central America with subsidized oil, and ALBA, the Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas. He doubled the minimum wage, called for the closing of the American military base of Soto Cano, also known as Palmerola, and proposed changing the military-written 1980 constitution to reflect the widening demand for social change of Honduras’s poor and working class. Each one of these actions brought the president closer to a confrontation with U.S. imperialism. Moves against imperialist interestsThe incorporation of Honduras into Petro Caribe in January 2007 was the first strike against U.S. imperialist interests. The then-U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Charles Ford, stated, “It’s quite a serious action which we have to look at from the point of view of the investment climate and the rules of the game.” At that time, U.S. companies Exxon and Chevron as well as Royal Dutch Shell were the exclusive distributors of oil in Honduras, all at inflated market prices. Petro-Caribe has saved the Honduran government tens of millions of dollars yearly in petrol imports. (Reuters, Jan. 15, 2007)On August 26, 2008, Zelaya announced that Honduras would be joining ALBA to help the country overcome the decades of underdevelopment and poverty created by the neo-liberal policies of his predecessors. From the outset, ALBA members Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Venezuela and Cuba worked with Zelaya’s government to install Cuban health care workers, Venezuelan petroleum technicians, Bolivian and Cuban literacy campaigns, as well as to work on land reforms to increase agricultural production and exports. ALBA’s anti-imperialist policies and support for economic sovereignty once again struck a nerve with U.S. interests in Honduras. In 2008, Zelaya proposed turning the old U.S military base at Soto Cano into an international airport. The idea was nothing new; Zelaya had discussed such a transition with the Bush administration for years. At this time, it was agreed that a new military base would be provided for the United States but under stricter terms. The negotiations with the Bush administration never flourished, and Zelaya moved quickly to find another source of financing for the airport. On May 31, 2008, ALBA informed Zelaya’s government that it would support and finance the project. But Washington could not accept the removal of over 600 U.S. military personal and 18 combat planes. The military base at Soto CanoThe base today operates as a counter-narcotics airfield but also houses the Honduran Aviation Academy. That means the pilots who were part of the abduction and forced exile of Zelaya on June 28 were trained there. In addition, the plane used is now known to have landed at Soto Cano before flying on to Costa Rica, further demonstrating the involvement of the U.S. military in the operation. (Associated Press, Aug 16)The base’s history includes being the launching pad for the 1954 CIA-organized coup d’etat against democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. During the 1980s, the base was used as the training center for the paramilitary death squads known as the contras, as well as a launching pad for the CIA-coordinated attacks on the Sandinista government of Nicaragua and the social movements in Guatemala, where the contras murdered over 100,000 people. The base was also used for torture operations. During those years, Ambassador John Negroponte ran the U.S. State Department operations in Honduras. Since then, he has held various government positions, primarily during the Bush years, including being appointed U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Negroponte now works for McLarty Associates, one of the most influential consulting firms in Washington, D.C. He is vice president of the firm and now a top foreign policy adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The initial 2008 Zelaya announcement that envisioned eliminating the U.S. military base without replacement was a political strike against all the counterrevolutionary activity Negroponte and U.S. governments had executed from that base for the past 50 years. U.S. role exposedThe day after the coup, the Obama administration announced that “the Honduran military surprised it with Sunday’s coup and that the United States as late as Saturday told the military not to go forward with it.” The statement further exposed the administration’s participation in and knowledge of the planned coup.That the U.S. government had advance knowledge is also indicated by the answer of State Department spokesperson Philip J. Crowley gave to a reporter’s question at an Aug. 17 press briefing: “I think that to the extent that we were concerned about the emerging crisis in Honduras, I think at the ambassadorial level we expressed our concerns to Honduran authorities prior to the coup.” (America.gov, Aug. 17)The military connections do not end with the U.S. involvement at Soto Cano. This military coup once again brings the School of the Americas (now renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) into the light. The top two generals of the Honduran military, Luis Javier Prince Suazo (Honduran military head of the Soto Cano base) and now-infamous military general Romeo Vásquez, were both graduates. (Telesur, July 13)Zelaya fired General Vásquez on June 24, 2009, a few days before the coup. (Venezuelanalysis, June 29) The oligarchy-dominated Supreme Court then reinstated him explaining the move as a defense of Honduran democracy. Days later this claim would be completely countered by the military tanks commanded by Vásquez that surrounded the capital and imposed martial law. (Guardian, June 29)In April 9, Ambassador Ford and long-time right-wing strategist Otto Reich embarked on a media campaign linking Zelaya to an alleged theft of $100 million dollars from state-owned Honductel (Honduras’s telephone company). A formal suit was “brought by Venezuelan lawyer Roberto Carmona-Borjas claiming that Zelaya was part of a bribery scheme.” (Telesur July 13)Roberto Carmona was the same lawyer who in 2002 drafted the “Carmona decrees” under which the Venezuelan constitution was suspended giving power to the coup d’etat government. After the failed coup in Venezuela, Carmona worked at George Washington University and later offered his services to Otto Reich’s defamation campaign aimed at discrediting Zelaya nationally and internationally. The media slander covered a range of topics from connecting Zelaya to drug trafficking to the stealing of millions from Hondutel. Hondutel has a direct connection to now dictator Roberto Michelleti, who was CEO of the company during the 1990s and had tried with the help of Otto Reich to transfer ownership of the company to the private telecom giants AT&T, MCI and Qualcomm. Since the onset of his presidency, Zelaya’s refusal to transfer the state company into private hands once again stepped on the interests of U.S. imperialism and the Honduran oligarchy. U.S business connections do not end with the oil and telecom giants. Zelaya’s push for a higher minimum wage also struck a nerve against other multinationals. The minimum wage hike was a direct challenge to the apparel companies Adidas, Nike and Gap, which operate dozens of factories in Honduras. In Honduras, these companies form a larger front called Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production, an organization aimed at derailing the anti-sweatshop movement while maintaining anti-union factories throughout the world. The industry front was created in June 2000, and since then Otto Reich has been its vice president.Phony ‘democratic’ front set upBeyond the economic and military involvement in Honduras, the U.S. government through United States Agency for International Development and the National Endowment of Democracypumped over $50 million U.S. tax dollars into their operations in Honduras last year. (Global Research, July 15) This year, the NED provided International Republican Institute (headed by board chairman John McCain) $1.2 million for work with “democratic” forces in Honduras. (Telesur, July 13)A month before the military coup, these three agencies engaged the Honduran oligarchy in establishing a front called the Democratic Civil Union of Honduras. This organization is composed of the National Anticorruption Council, the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduran Council of Private Enterprise, Council of University Deans, Workers’ Federation of Honduras, National Convergence Forum, National Federation of Commerce and Industry of Honduras, Association of Communication Media, the Group Peace and Democracy and the student group Generation for Change. A week before the coup, the new “civil union” stated to the national press that they trusted “the armed forces will comply with their responsibility to defend the Constitution, the Law, peace and democracy.” In the days after the coup, the organization sponsored several rallies in support of the military coup and their new leader, Roberto Micheletti. The right-wing rallies were the only thing broadcast in Honduras during the coup, trying to show the national and international community that there had been a public outcry of support for the “new government.” (Global Research, July 15)The creation of the Democratic “Civil” Union of Honduras was a conscious effort at fanning the flames of a military coup. The role of the organization the days and weeks after the coup show that there was nothing “spontaneous” about the right-wing mobilizations, and that rather they had been orchestrated with the financial, technical and political support of the U.S. government. Bipartisan diplomatic offensive and public relations blitzThe role of the U.S. government did not end in creating destabilizing units in Honduras. Days after the military coup, the Honduran oligarchy with the help of the International Republican Institute hired renowned Washington lobbyist and lawyer Lanny Davis. Davis made his mark during the Clinton administration as the president’s legal counsel from 1996 to 1998 during the Lewinsky scandal. He is now an adviser of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Davis organized a diplomatic offensive and public relations blitz in support of the coup regime, including advertisements in important U.S. media that sought to legitimize the coup government. He has also been organizing meetings and hearings with members of Congress, the State Department and the White House. The main objective of the meetings was to work on a congressional resolution aimed at legitimizing the new regime in Honduras. In addition, Senator John McCain and the Cormac Group, a key lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., arranged the visits of a delegation from the new Honduran regime at the National Press Club in Washington. Furthermore, he helped arrange meetings between the delegation and Connie Mack, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mel Martínez, all traditional enemies of the Latin American left. Overnight, other key Republican leaders announced their support for the delegation and the coup in Honduras. In a July 2 statement, Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, stated, “The Honduran Congress, the Honduran Supreme Court, and the Honduran military have acted in accordance to the Honduran constitution and the rule of law.” His statement was right on cue, and in retrospect was the piece omitted from Obama’s initial statement. (U.S. Senate Statement, July 2)True motives come to lightThe true motives of the Obama administration came into perspective with the proposal of a negotiation mediated by President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica. Arias, yet another player of the Reagan cold war era, was a chief negotiator in the Guatemalan peace treaty that ended the violence in the country and restored the Guatemalan oligarchy to power in the 1980s. Arias’ proposal for Honduras includes the return of Zelaya to office, the creation of a national reconciliation government, amnesty for all political and military crimes, and Zelaya’s agreement to stop any further attempts to change the constitution. The goal of the negotiation was in reality to legitimize a new oligarchy-dominated government, stop the change of the constitution to benefit the masses of poor and working-class people, regain the political acceptance of Honduras in the region and restore trade relations. The Obama administration immediately expressed full support for Arias’ proposed political solution. The coup government rejected the first proposal, forcing a new proposal, only to reject that one and leave the negotiation table. They returned a few days later to “negotiate again.” In the weeks since, the coup government has only used the negotiations to further entrench themselves in power, buying time to kill and arrest hundreds of left-wing activists, propagate their propaganda through the halls of the U.S Congress, attempt to defuse the struggles of the Honduran masses, and seek support among the few right-wing governments in Latin America. During this time, the Obama administration has moved further and further away from Obama’s initial misleading statement. Since the coup, not one U.S. plane has left Honduras, the base at Soto Cano is still fully operational, and delegations from the dictatorship are happily going around Washington, D.C., looking for support. Since the coup, Zelaya has continually called out the contradictions of U.S. statements and actions: “If President Barack Obama really wants to turn back this coup, these coup leaders will last all of five minutes because the economy of Honduras, all our military, commercial and migration activities, depend on the United States.” In the end, Zelaya’s statement summarizes the supporting cast of the coup—Wall Street, the Pentagon and the Obama State Department. Social movements continue the struggleSince the first day of the military coup, the social movements in Honduras—the labor unions, the peasant unions, the students and the indigenous and Afro-Honduran unions—have not stopped their resistance to the dictatorship. During the past 45 days, the organizations have engaged in a wide range of social protest, including hundreds of road blocks throughout the county, labor strikes that have paralyzed the country, and militant demonstrations in all the major cities and towns. The demonstrations have kept going despite the violent backlash of the state and the military, which have shot and killed several protesters, have incarcerated hundreds including mothers and their children and have forcefully disappeared and tortured several activists. Military force has been used to abduct foreign diplomats from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, as well foreign press correspondents. The courage and resilience of the Honduran people can be seen on a nightly basis. On Aug. 12, thousands of Hondurans marched from every corner of the country, all heading to the capital city of Tegucigalpa. Once there, they rallied in front of the congress, where the military used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the peaceful demonstration. Throughout the night, dozens of disturbances occurred in the city, including the forceful entry at several universities in Tegucigalpa by the military, and the arrest of hundreds of demonstrators. The next day, the same thousands of patriotic and anti-imperialist masses once again rallied throughout the capital demonstrating that they would not be silenced by a dictator, an entrenched oligarchy, a murderous military and their masters in Washington, D.C.
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Simpson: Ignatieff's Curiously Wasted Summer

Simpson certainly has a point. Ignatieff seems to be almost completely absent from the news. While it is understandable that Harper as the prime minister would get more media attention Ignatieff seems to be avoiding it. Perhaps the view is that if you don't set forth any policy then the Conservatives cannot shoot it down. But as Simpson points out the summer provided an opportunity for Ignatieff to make himself known to Canadians but instead of doing that he has done a disappearing act!

Michael Ignatieff's curiously wasted summer
The failure to develop a coherent critique of the government has left Liberals wondering what is going on

Jeffrey Simpson
Last updated on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 04:15AM EDT
What a curious summer it has been for the Liberal Party and its leader, Michael Ignatieff.
Summer, it should be said, is a tough time for an opposition leader to command much, if any, media attention. Deprived of a parliamentary platform, whatever he says seldom echoes across the country.
Still, the leader has to try to be heard, have something to say, and stir up at least his troops. On all these counts, it's been a curiously wasted summer.
When the parliamentary session ended, Mr. Ignatieff did not bring down the government. Instead, he huffed and puffed, and secured a study into employment insurance.
For this, the Ottawa media pack devoured him for delivering at the end of the shenanigans what the people wanted: no election. Such is the media mentality that judges everything by who wins and loses little tactical struggles, and reads significance into picayune events.
The Liberals were not then ready for an election, and the people did not want one. On both counts, Mr. Ignatieff rather skillfully avoided the bad option of an election urged on him by a surprising number of Liberals.
The avoidance of an election yielded Mr. Ignatieff valuable time that it would appear has been largely wasted. He has popped up occasionally in the media, but for the most part Mr. Ignatieff disappeared for the summer, while the Prime Minister was in the news almost all the time. Several months were squandered in trying to get Canadians to know Mr. Ignatieff better so that Liberals can counter that Conservative lethal jibe that their leader is “just visiting” Canada.
Bad staff work, the leader's leisurely pace, flat polling numbers and, more critically, the failure to develop a coherent critique of the government and set of alternative policies, have left a disturbing number of Liberals privately wondering what the hell is going on.
Liberals will put a good face on things, of course, at their end-of-summer caucus the week after next in Sudbury, but it will be just that, a face. They thought in the spring that the political tides were slowly running in their favour; now they are not so sure.
The Liberals' biggest challenge (they have many) lies in having failed this summer or before to develop a “line,” or an easily digestible overall critique of the government. It's a crude game, politics, and an opposition party to win needs one word or one phrase that sticks in the public's mind about the government – time for a change, corrupt, incompetent, uncaring, the tool of big business. Whatever. It's not at all clear what that word or phrase is that the Liberals have hung around the Conservatives' neck.
Suggested changes to employment insurance, making it easier to secure EI with fewer weeks worked, certainly isn't an overall “critique.” Most people in Canada are working, and don't worry much about EI. But even if the Liberals were substantively correct about the issue, and they are not, one policy dispute does not make a coherent line of attack.
Some days, the Liberals claim the Harper government hasn't spent enough public money on the recession. But they voted for the Harper budget, whose deficit has since exploded. Would the Liberals really recommend a budgetary deficit above the anticipated one of $50-billion? Where would that leave their other critique that the Conservatives have been reckless with the public purse?
On other days, the Liberals suggest the stimulus money should be rolled out ever faster. This is a purely political critique, rather than a seriously substantive one, since it takes time to make sure money is well spent. As it is, a whole lot of the stimulus money will be spent next year and the one after that, when the economy won't need the public money.
The economic centrists in the Liberal caucus know that taxes should be raised in the next few years to drive down the deficit and avoid years of red ink. But they dare not say so, because they fear the Conservative counterattack. So they say nothing. Indeed, so seared were Liberals by the bad public reaction to their carbon tax in the last election that they won't put anything forward before the election.
Mr. Ignatieff is going off to China, a good thing in itself, but wrong from a timing perspective. The Liberals thought they had the Conservatives somewhat vulnerable for mishandling relations with China, but with four senior Conservative ministers having recently visited that country, the potential critique has weakened.
Elections are won at home, on domestic issues overwhelmingly. If there's one area where Mr. Ignatieff doesn't have to burnish his credentials, it's having an international perspective, because he lived overseas for so many years. He'd be much better off attending barbecues in Ontario and Quebec than visiting Beijing and Shanghai. Get elected and go fast to China, but get elected first.
Stephen Harper had scarcely been outside Canada before getting elected. Canadians think they are great internationalists, but they are not at all.

Liberals ask for cost analysis of their EI plan.

It seems that the Conservatives are really not interested in co-operating on EI reform with the Liberals. I thought that the Liberals and Conservatives were in effect operating a type of secret coalition but it seems I was wrong. The Conservatives were just playing their usual tricks to keep themselves in power. The EI bipartisan panel has already achieved its purpose of avoiding a summer election. Now perhaps the Conservatives are ready to dare the Liberals to bring them down. The Liberals are not improving significantly in the polls so Harper probably thinks that Ignatieff will cave in again.


Liberals seek independent review of EI proposal as reform panel stalls
(CP) – 18 hours ago
OTTAWA — A bipartisan panel on Employment Insurance reform, set up in June to avert a summer federal election, appears to have ground to a stalemate.
The Conservative and Liberal teams wrapped up their last scheduled meeting without agreeing to a further timetable, and without - say Liberals - any firm proposals from the government side.
A Liberal plan to create a national EI eligibility standard of 360 hours was shot down as an expensive non-starter by Tory MPs on the panel.
Now the Liberals are asking Kevin Page, Parliament's independent budget officer, to do his own cost analysis of their plan.
They dispute Tory claims it will cost upwards of $4 billion a year, saying the price tag is closer to $1 billion.
The creation of the EI panel was the modest price Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff extracted from Prime Minister Stephen Harper in June in return for continued Liberal support of the minority government.
The Liberals also forced the Tories to provide them with an opportunity to defeat the government in September when Parliament returns - and the panel's apparent lack of progress sets up one more friction point between Harper's government and the official Opposition.
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Green Party Leader May ponders new riding.

This is an obvious move. If the Green party leader were to be in parliament she would get more media exposure. This will probably boost the party fortunes and if it doesn't it will encourage the party to choose a new leader! Although the Green Party gets a significant percentage of the vote, since it is so spread out so far no one has been elected. If May runs in a constitutency with a strong Green constituency she could very well pull off the first win.

Green party leader May ponders new riding
Evan French/North Star
North Star, News, Wednesday, August 19, 2009
by Evan French A new riding for Green party leader Elizabeth May was a key issue discussed during Adriane Carr’s lunch visit to Parry Sound.
The party’s deputy leader was in town Friday for a visit with local Green candidate Glen Hodgson and other local supporters to chat about strategy for the next election and to explain why the party’s leader would be “parachuting in” to a new riding next time around.
Carr, who is best known for her affiliation with the Green party of British Columbia, made the visit as part of a national tour, visiting towns and candidates across the country to provide training and support to prepare members in the event an election is called in the fall.
In the recent election, the Greens gobbled up votes, bringing them closer to parity with the New Democratic Party, but still failed to secure that all-important first seat in the House of Commons.
To increase her chances of being the first Green MP, May has decided she’ll leave the riding of Central Nova – Conservative Defence Minister Peter McKay’s riding — to transplant to a greener riding.
Carr said May has made her decision, and although it isn’t yet public, she’ll be going to either the Grey-Bruce-Owen Sound riding in Ontario, or to the Saanich-Gulf Islands, in B.C.
Carr said they’re “concentrating our efforts, and targeting to win.” They’ve looked at other Green parties around the globe who have been successful in winning seats, and are tailoring their strategy accordingly.
“We’ve adopted with our party the national policy of the England Greens, which is called the target to win policy,” said Carr. “It’s focusing on where you have your very best chance, your very best people, and focus your resources.
“For the first time ever, the Green party of Canada has written a campaign plan that is fully detailed, with a pre-written plan and a campaign execution plan, with goals,” said Carr.
The big goal right now: win a seat for May. And when Green strategists suggested May might have to move to accomplish the goal, said Carr, she was all for it.
“She said yes, I want to see polling, I want to see the work that’s been done to identify that riding. So we did go out and actually survey.”
Carr said more and more Canadians are beginning to believe that problems with the faltering economy could be solved with a more environmental approach, so it’s more important now than ever for May to gain a solid footing in a supportive riding.
She said while it’s clear that some countries aren’t ready to commit to environmental reform, it’s important for Canada to set a good example.
“Canada is very much an embarrassing lagger in this,” said Carr. “We need to use — and governments have to use — the current economic crisis as an opportunity to switch the economic path onto one that is also a good path for the environment.”
She said Greens want to see carbon conservation as a start down a path toward renewable energy, following examples set by other developed nations.
.....................“When the German Greens got into power and formed a coalition government ... they wanted to put Germany on a renewable energy path. The people said you’re going to cost the economy thousands of jobs. In one year after making this move — Germany investing in renewable energy, especially wind — there were more jobs and more stimulus to the economy ... than there were jobs in the nuclear and coal industries combined.”
Hodgson said it’s a myth that what’s good for the economy has to be bad for the environment, and proof can be found in Parry Sound.
“You just have to look locally, where we have companies like Crofter’s, a company just out of town that makes organic jam,” he said. “Their product line is flying off the shelves, and they’re not compromising. So it’s such a myth to think that you have to lower your standards in order to be accepted.”
..................................Carr said the future of the economy is green, and the proof can be seen in a changing attitude among Canadian youth.
“We have a son at university, and he was saying ‘you know the girls at university, when they ask you what kind of vehicle you drive they want you to be driving a smart car,’” she said. “Muscle cars are out because they’re not being responsible. So that’s kind of reflective of the shift in terms of consumer purchasing, it’s going green.”
Hodgson, who teaches at Parry Sound High School, said local youngsters seem to be thinking along the same lines, since they’ve chosen the Green party — in a student vote held across the district — for several years. He said he thinks it’s because they want to see change, not because they know him as a teacher.
“I get really upset when people suggest to me that it’s because I’m a teacher because to me that really discredits the young people,” he said. “I totally reject it and I think it’s insulting quite frankly to the kids, to suggest that they only do that because a lot of them know me. They’re familiar with the party, and they’ve supported it for years. Those kids are getting older and some of those kids are voters now. As they get older I think we’re going to see the demographics change.”
He said in the meantime, he has to work hard to win the votes of many other locals, who have voted the same way for years, and are reticent to cast their vote on the party that got its start in 1983.
“I think that in this riding there’s certainly deep traditions about voting intentions and that’s what we want to shake,” he said. “We run into things like ‘my grandfather voted this way, my father voted this way and that’s what we’ve always voted.’ Greens, being relatively new on the block, it really takes time and a lot of effort to be able to shake that voting intention.”
Carr said voting habits are tough to break, and it’s an issue the party faces across the country.
“Part of the challenge is getting people to free themselves up to vote the way they really feel they want to, not worrying necessarily about the outcome, but just thinking of their vote as a confirmation they most feel they’d like to see represented in Ottawa.
“And that’s the way democracy ought to work. The flaw in our voting system is that doesn’t give people that sense that they can vote freely and expect the outcome to reflect it.”

NDP the New Conservatives..?

The NDP has been relatively conservative from the beginning. It was conservative relative to the CCF. The CCF was for eradicating capitalism and would not rest until it had established the Co-operative Commonwealth in Canada. Most of the NDP leadership wanted to turn it into a version of the UK Labor Party. Lately many have wanted to follow the Third Way of social democratic parties in Europe. So if the NDP were to decide to become the Democratic Party this would simply be part and parcel of the evolution of the NDP further to the right. If as the author claims the party is so conservative perhaps it will have a much better chance now in Alberta!
If NDPers consulted their grandmothers when in doubt as the author suggests they might get a radical earful!


The New Conservatives


Calgary HeraldAugust 18, 2009
Woodrow Wilson once said a conservative is someone who makes no changes and consults his grandmother when in doubt.
He could have been referring to today's federal New Democratic Party, which at its weekend convention decided "Everything old is new again." Delegates rehashed decades-old policies that leader Jack Layton limply tried to say offered Canadians a new way of thinking.
Sorry, Jack, there's nothing new to the NDP ideology about environmentally friendly jobs, ending rules that prevent homosexuals from donating organs, demanding action to prevent violence against aboriginal women, or enshrining childcare into law. Anything different on the agenda -- like a proposal to phase out income tax for small business--never made it to the convention floor.
Alexa McDonough, former NDP leader, defended the same old, same old, as tradition. "Of course there needs to be change as the world changes around us. But what isn't going to change is our basic values, and most of our policies simply build on those values." Canadians have rejected those values for more than 30 years. Then, the "New" in New Democrats was true. The party is so stuck on the past, it refused to vote on a proposal to drop "new" from its name. It's all rather '70s, except this is the 21st century.
Alas. By the Democratic president's definition, there's only one word for today's unchanging and unchangeable NDP--conservative.

PM talks economic development in Iqaluit

Harper seems to concentrate upon asserting sovereignty and a greater military presence to back that up. Behind all this is the fact that with increased global warming and decreasing supply of essential commodities such as gas and oil and minerals the north will be ripe for exploitation. There have been complaints in the north that there was little consultation with northerners before policy was developed. No doubt Harper had already consulted with those who count in the south before he developed his policy. There are serious social welfare issues in the north and the need for a development plan that those in the north design. It is all very well to assert our sovereignty in the north and important in itself but policy should also be designed to reflect the concerns of northerners who will be most impacted by Harper's policies.


PM to talk economic development in Iqaluit
Updated Tue. Aug. 18 2009 9:58 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to discuss Arctic economic development at a rare cabinet meeting in Iqaluit on Tuesday, as part of his latest mission to boost Canada's presence in the region.
Harper arrived in Iqaluit on Monday evening, the first stop on a five-day-long trip to Canada's Arctic that he has made an annual event since becoming prime minister.
The prime minister will visit various Arctic communities while away from Ottawa, and he will observe military exercises in Frobisher Bay from the deck of the HMCS Toronto on Wednesday.
CTV's Rosemary Thompson said the not-so-secret purpose behind Harper's latest Arctic voyage is to show the world that Canada is serious about protecting its sovereignty.
"All this of course, is not just flag-waving, but to show Canadians and the world that Canada is an Arctic country," she told CTV's Canada AM from Iqaluit on Monday morning.
Thompson said Canada is facing a looming deadline four years from now, when Ottawa will have to let the UN know which parts of the Arctic belong to Canada.
"There is a serious issue that is behind this and that is the deadline in 2013, when all polar countries are going to have to submit their science to the UN...to show that they have a certain amount of territory in the Arctic," she said.
And Canada is not the only country in the midst of asserting its Arctic presence.
"The Americans are competing for part of this land, as are the Russians, the Danes and the Norwegians," Thompson said.
The strategic value of the Arctic is increasing as climate change takes it toll on the Far North. It is believed that as the polar ice caps melt away, the rich resources -- namely the region's oil and gas reserves -- trapped beneath the sea bed and the land, will be easier to access.
Despite what is on the line, Robert Huebert, the associate director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, said Canada may be falling behind in its efforts to declare its sovereignty in the Arctic.
"We're seeing efforts of this on a much larger scale -- to be quite frank -- by the Russians, Norwegians and Danes, but it's very important that Canada be showing that, in fact, it's getting the capabilities and is taking its North seriously," Huebert told Canada AM during an interview from Calgary.
All three countries are increasing their military capabilities in the Arctic, while Canada is playing catch-up, he said.
"We're probably further ahead in the context of an overall plan in terms of some of the aspects such as the Arctic strategy, but in terms of our actual capability to be at the Northern waters, we probably have a little ways to go to catch up to some of the other neighbours," Huebert said.
The government has previously announced plans to build six light icebreakers that will patrol the region and is considering building a deep-water port and warfare centre.
Canada has also been keeping a close eye on Russian expeditions to the Arctic, and has taken issue with Russian jets flying near its Arctic airspace.
With files from CTV's Canada AM and The Canadian Press

Ignatieff lags Harper in approval rating: poll

What seems to be more significant is that both have negative ratings! Even though more approve Harper than Ignatieff, Harper's total score is minus 11 versus minus 9 for Ignatieff. Of course the article fails to mention that Layton has the best overal score of all at plus 1! This is just an example of the way articles frame issues as if only the two main parties count. Apparently it was not even thought important to ask about the Greens or the Bloc leaders.
The pollsters did think it was important to ask about Obama who is obviously a very important Canadian politician! It is all entertainment with Obama being a global celebrity so his Canadian rating is important.


Ignatieff lags Harper in approval rating: poll

CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper scores a higher job approval rating than his political rival, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, according to a new poll, but both had more negative than positive evaluations from Canadians who were asked about their performance.
Although a larger proportion of people disapprove of Harper's job performance compared with Ignatieff's, Harper’s disapproval ratings have slowly declined since January, while Ignatieff’s have shot up.
The EKOS poll, commissioned by the CBC and released Thursday, asked Canadians if they approve or disapprove of the way Harper, Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton are handling their jobs.
Harper received a 36 per cent approval rating, followed by Layton (34 per cent) and Ignatieff (29 per cent). Conversely, 47 per cent said they disapprove of Harper’s job performance, with Ignatieff getting a 38 per cent disapproval rating and Layton 33 per cent.
That means the net positive scores are worse for Harper (-11) than for Ignatieff (-9).
However, Ignatieff’s disapproval rating has gone from 20 per cent in January, to almost 40 per cent in August, basically doubling in seven months.
In the electoral battleground province of Ontario, where Ignatieff is hoping to recapture seats, the poll showed Harper’s approval rating is 38 per cent, compared with Ignatieff (32 per cent). But Harper’s disapproval rate is also higher than Ignatieff (46 per cent versus 38 per cent)
In Quebec, Harper’s disapproval rating is higher than in any other region, standing at 58 per cent with an approval rating of 21 per cent. Ignatieff fares better, but his disapproval rating (32 per cent) is still higher than his approval rating (29 per cent) in the province.
One political leader, however, soars above all the rest in the opinion of Canadian poll respondents: U.S. President Barack Obama.

Ottawa must press for Khadr's return: Appeal Court.

Harper no doubt is unhappy with this decision. He can still appeal to the Supreme Court. He has absolutely no shame and no worry about paying the legal bills either since the taxpayer will be doing that.
Obama has never had a thing to say about Khadr's case as far as I am aware. No doubt he has other issues on his mind!


Ottawa must press for Khadr's return: Appeal Court

CBC News
The Federal Court of Appeal upheld a ruling Friday that ordered the Canadian government to press for the return of Omar Khadr from a U.S. military detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.The Toronto-born Khadr, now 22, is being held at Guantanamo and is accused of killing a U.S. army soldier with a hand grenade during a gunfight in Afghanistan in 2002, when Khadr was 15. His case remains on hold pending a review of the U.S. military tribunal system by the Obama administration.
In April, Federal Court Judge James O'Reilly ruled in favour of Khadr's charter challenge of the Canadian government's decision not to request his repatriation from Guantanamo Bay.
The federal government appealed the decision and has long maintained that because of the seriousness of the charges, Khadr should face military proceedings in the United States.
In his 43-page decision, O'Reilly wrote that the federal government's ongoing refusal to request his repatriation to Canada "offends a principle of fundamental justice and violates Mr. Khadr's rights.
"To mitigate the effect of that violation, Canada must present a request to the United States for Mr. Khadr's repatriation as soon as practicable," the judge wrote.
Khadr's lawyers have argued the Canadian government was complicit in the detainee's alleged torture and mistreatment while in U.S. custody and is obliged under international law to demand his return.
Documents show Khadr's U.S. captors threatened him with rape, kept him isolated and deprived him of sleep. In 2003, Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers travelled to Guantanamo to question Khadr and shared the results of their interrogations with the Americans.
The watchdog over CSIS recently found the spy agency ignored concerns about human rights and Khadr's young age in deciding to interview him.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe have sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama calling for Khadr's repatriation and for any evidence against him to be released to Canadian authorities.
The U.S. and Canadian governments are signatories to a United Nations protocol that states fighters under age 18 are to be considered child soldiers and must be released and helped to reintegrate into society.With files from The Canadian Press