Friday, May 4, 2012

Conrad Black arrives in Toronto after release from U.S. prison

Rex Murphy on Black's return.

The former prominent press baron Conrad Black has arrived in Toronto where he has a home with his wife Barbara Amiel. Both he and his wife are prominent conservatives. Black was very quickly granted a temporary resident permit even though he has a prison record.

A U.S. court convicted Black of fraud and obstruction of justice. Black has always maintained he is innocent. He was found not guilty on a number of other charges. Black gave up his Canadian citizenship to become a member of the UK House of Lords but he has kept property in Canada. Some opposition politicians have been critical of the issuance of the temporary residence permit. Given the speed of the granting of the permit and its issuance in spite of Black's criminal record some suspect government officials may have been involved in the process to speed things up.

U.S. authorities released a short statement about Black: "Earlier today U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations effected the return of Mr. Conrad Black to Canada in accordance with the final order of removal." Personally, I think that Black is a very intelligent fellow and one point in his favor in my books is that he has been very critical of the Conservative government's crime bill! No doubt he will not fade away. For more see this article.

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