Abousfian Abdelrazik’s long struggle to return to Canada may finally be coming to an end, now that a federal court has ordered the federal government to do its job.
In the court’s decision Thursday, Federal Court Judge Russell Zinn wrote that Abdelrazik is “as much a victim of international terrorism as the innocent persons whose lives have been taken by recent barbaric acts of terrorists.”
“I find that Mr. Abdelrazik is entitled to an appropriate remedy which, in the unique circumstances of his situation, requires that the Canadian government take immediate action so that Mr. Abdelrazik is returned to Canada,” Zinn wrote.
This, of course, pre-supposes that prime minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon aren’t complete asses and try to appeal this ruling.
Of course, even if Mr. Abdelrazik is home by next week, the fact that it required this level of intervention to get the government to do the right thing, especially after Lawrence Cannon’s continual shifting of the goal-posts in setting conditions for Abdelrazik’s return home, is a national shame. Let’s not forget that Mr. Abdelrazik has been cleared of any connection with terrorism by two separate investigative agencies (the RCMP and CSIS), and let’s not forget that every excuse the Minister of Foreign Affairs threw in front of Mr. Abdelrazik’s way has been thoroughly and soundly debunked. The government’s intransigence against allowing Mr. Abdelrazik to return home had passed the point of spite some time ago.
Let us hope that there is enough decency within this government so that, now that a federal court has slapped it in the face, it will finally do the right thing and bring him home. Now.
Thanks to Dr. Dawg for following this case for the past year, and not letting up.
In other news, the Canadian Mint has received a black mark to its reputation on revelations that a substantial amount of its precious metals are unaccounted for, either through theft or sloppy record keeping.
I’ll wait to see how this one plays out, but this paragraph intrigued me:
But Rob Merrifield, minister of state for transport, said there’s no point in speculating. “The mint is a Crown corporation at arm’s length from the government,” he said, adding that chief executive Ian Bennett has promised a quick investigation, with results to be made public. The mint reports to Parliament through the transport minister.
(link)
Why does the Mint report to Parliament through the transport ministry? Wouldn’t it make far more sense for the Mint to report to Parliament through the Minister of Finance?