Ottawa, December 9, 2011 – On Tuesday, December 6, a delegation of Vietnamese community leaders from Toronto visited Ottawa to meet with the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. They were joined by prominent community member Thanh Hai Ngo, an Ottawa-based Citizenship Judge. The group voiced concerns about the lack of democratic and religious freedoms in Vietnam and delivered a petition on behalf of hundreds of Vietnamese Canadians that will be officially tabled in Parliament next week.

The delegation of community leaders also met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. During this meeting, the group presented the Prime Minister with a plaque on behalf of the Vietnamese Association of Greater Vancouver, thanking him and the government for its steadfast commitment to promoting human rights throughout the world, including in Vietnam.

The community leaders also observed a statement delivered in the House of Commons by the Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism and Member of Parliament for Willowdale, Chungsen Leung, in which he reaffirmed the government’s strong commitment to protecting and advancing religious freedom around the world. Mr. Leung spoke about the continued detention of Father Nguyen Van Ly in Vietnam, a Roman Catholic priest who was arrested for criticizing the communist Vietnamese government’s poor stance on religious freedom and democratic values.

The Government of Canada continues to stand up for freedom of religion and human rights. The establishment of an Office for Religious Freedom, as committed to in the Speech from the Throne, will raise awareness about religious intolerance and persecution worldwide, such as the persecution of Father Ly in Vietnam.

November 25, 2011: Statement by Deepak Obhrai on visit to Vietnam

http://www.deepakobhrai.com/media/news/2011/Nov_25_Viet_dem.pdf

———————————————————————————————–

Des Responsables de la Communauté Vietnamienne Accueillis à Ottawa

Ottawa, le 9 décembre 2011 – Mardi 6 décembre, une délégation de responsables de la communauté vietnamienne de Toronto sont venus à Ottawa afin de rencontrer l’honorable Jason Kenney, ministre de la Citoyenneté, de l’Immigration et du Multiculturalisme. L’éminent membre de la communauté, Thanh Hai Ngo, un juge de la citoyenneté en poste à Ottawa, s’est joint à eux. Le groupe a exprimé ses préoccupations au sujet de l’absence de libertés démocratiques et religieuses au Vietnam et a soumis une pétition au nom de centaines de Canado-vietnamiens, qui sera officiellement déposée au Parlement la semaine prochaine.

La délégation des responsables de la communauté a également rencontré le premier ministre Stephen Harper. Durant cette réunion, le groupe a présenté au premier ministre une plaque au nom de la Vietnamese Association of Greater Vancouver, le remerciant ainsi que le gouvernement de leur détermination constante à promouvoir les droits humains dans le monde, notamment au Vietnam.

Les responsables de la communauté ont également assisté à une déclaration à la Chambre des communes du secrétaire parlementaire au Multiculturalisme et du député de Willowdale, Chungsen Leung, dans laquelle il réaffirmait le solide engagement du gouvernement à protéger et faire progresser la liberté religieuse dans le monde. M. Leung a parlé de la détention continue du père Nguyen Van Ly au Vietnam, un prêtre catholique qui a été arrêté pour avoir critiqué l’attitude peu satisfaisante du gouvernement communiste vietnamien en matière de liberté religieuse et de valeurs démocratiques.

Le gouvernement du Canada continue de défendre la liberté de religion et les droits de la personne. La mise en place du Bureau de la liberté de religion, telle qu’annoncée dans le discours du Trône, accroîtra la sensibilisation à l’intolérance religieuse et à la persécution dans le monde, telle la persécution du père Ly, au Vietnam.

Socialist fellow travellers in the West, including journalists who were too “sophisticated” and “balanced” to raise questions about the Communist system, aided in the cover up. They denied there was a famine in Ukraine. Rather, they, said, it was the growing pains of a revolution that was liberating mankind from the oppression of capitalism.

Only a few voices, like that of Malcolm Muggeridge, insisted that the facts were plain: there was a man-made famine, and millions of men, women, and children were being deliberately starved. A few even reported the evidence of cannibalism and other horrible depths to which desperate human beings were driven.

Timothy Snyer’s book, Bloodlands, includes hair-raising details, such as the OGPU report that stated: “Families kill their weakest members, usually children, and use the meat for eating.”

That the ravenous hunger and madness of the Holodomor should have driven people to such unthinkable acts was perhaps the greatest crime of the Holodomor, a genocide which overwhelms us with what Pope John Paul II called the “Mysterium iniquitatis”, the mystery of evil.

Today more people are aware of the events than ever before, thanks to the efforts of people like you here today. Even left-wing reporters, for so many years part of the cover-up for the crimes of Communism, are now admitting (after reading Synder in some cases) that the book “forces us to face the facts about the famine” and to accept that it is “one of the 20th century’s deliberate mass murders.” Even so, the left’s failure to take Communism seriously continues.

There is even a trendy bar for the bien pensants of New York City called “KGB”, as if the Soviet secret police were some sort of funny sophisticated in-joke for Western liberals. But, as one writer recently admitted “There is something [Snyder’s] accounts that forces one to realize there are depths of evil one has not been able to imagine before.”

As the Prime Minister put it last year in Lviv, the day after visiting the Holodomor Memorial: “To contemplate an act of malevolence on that scale truly focuses one’s mind on the nature of this evil. So much for communism’s supposed ideals.”

Au cours de son voyage en Ukraine l’an passé, le premier ministre Stephen Harper a qualifié l’Holodomor de « l’un des pires crimes de l’Histoire »

Let us never forget that the history of Communism is one, above all, of mass murder. Think of the Povolzhye famine of 1921, when Lenin ordered that food be seized from the people to punish them for opposing his atheist Bolshevik murderers, and 5 to 10 million died.

Think also of the Great Chinese Famine under Mao Zedong, when between 15 and 45 million perished largely due to collectivist land management policies, that some in Canada praised for its benefits to mankind, as in the 1961 book Two Innocents in Red China. The authors – Pierre Trudeau and Jacques Hébert, praised the discipline of the Chinese people in 1960 – at the height of the famine that killed tens of millions – their “pride” and “enthusiasm” in building the new China! They praised the Chinese government’s policy for integrating linguistic minorities – which was “while respecting them – to seek to make them understand the blessings of Marxism.”

Some geniuses! Some blessings!

In more recent times, and in a more serious and reflective capacity, in 2008, Canada became the first nation to recognize the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33 as an act of genocide.

Le Canada peut être fier d’avoir été le premier grand pays occidental à reconnaître le caractère particulièrement malveillant de l’Holodomor, ce génocide par la famine qui a eu lieu dans les années 1932 et 1933.

Let us never forget the suffering of the people of Ukraine in the Holodomor, the facts of which no one can deny for all history to come. And let us rededicate ourselves to help the victims of famine today, like the people of Somalia who are denied food aid by another force of political extremism: Al Shabaab.

To quote the final words of Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytskiy :

“Pray that our Lord and his blessed Mother protect our unfortunate Ukrainian nation, which has endured so much the difficult times. May you be strong and courageous in your faith, and persevere in dedicated service to God our Lord! My voice will now be silent – until the Last Judgment!”

I close with a prayer from the Byzantine Liturgy for the dead, which we just chanted:

“In a blessed falling asleep, grant, O Lord, eternal rest unto thy departed servants, and make their memory to be eternal! Memory eternal! Memory eternal! Memory eternal!”

“I was very concerned about the powerful storm that hit Calgary and tore through parts of southern Alberta on Sunday.

“I have been in contact with my Provincial counterpart, Doug Griffiths, Minister of Municipal Affairs, and have spoken with several mayors and community leaders in the affected areas, to gain a better understanding of the damage that has occurred in these local communities. The federal government stands ready to assist provincial authorities in their response to the current situation, if required.

“I am relieved to read reports that there have been no serious injuries or loss of life reported. It’s truly remarkable given the magnitude of this storm.

“I trust that Albertans will show the same strength and resolve when faced with adversity, as they always have in the past. I am confident that Albertans will work together to repair the damage caused and help one another move forward.” 

For further information (media only), please contact:

Candice Malcolm
613-954-1064

———————————————————————————————————————————————-

Le ministre Kenney exprime son inquiétude au sujet des tempêtes qui frappent le sud de l’Alberta

CALGARY –L’honorable Jason Kenney, député de Calgary-Sud-Est et ministre responsable de la région du sud de l’Alberta, a fait la déclaration suivante.

« Je suis très préoccupé par la puissante tempête qui a frappé Calgary et certaines parties du sud de l’Alberta dimanche. »

« Je suis en contact avec mon homologue provincial, Doug Griffiths, ministre des Affaires municipales, et j’ai parlé à plusieurs maires et dirigeants communautaires des régions touchées pour mieux comprendre l’étendue des dommages survenus dans ces communautés locales. Le gouvernement fédéral se tient prêt à aider les autorités provinciales pour intervenir, au besoin. »

« Je suis soulagé de lire que personne n’a été gravement blessé et que personne n’a perdu la vie. C’est tout à fait remarquable compte tenu de I’ampleur de cette tempête. »

« Je sais que les Albertains resteront comme toujours forts et déterminés face à l’adversité. Je suis confiant que les Albertains travailleront ensemble à réparer les dommages causés par la tempête et qu’ils s’aideront mutuellement à s’en remettre. » 

Pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez contacter (médias seulement):

Candice Malcolm
613-954-1064

This was the site of one of the twenty four internment camps that were established in Canada during the First World War. Camp Spirit Lake held 1200 detainees, the majority of whom were of Ukrainian origin. The historical materials collected in this centre document the experiences of entire families, who found themselves surrounded by barbed wire and treated like prisoners of war.

Minister Kenney stated: “Our Government was proud to establish the Canadian Historical Recognition Program which has sought to teach future generations of Canadians about the often forgotten aspects of our past that, while unsettling, are important to remember. I am pleased that this interpretation centre, funded in part by the Government of Canada, embraces this mission.”

The Camp Spirit Lake Interpretation Centre will serve as a permanent memorial to those, mainly Ukrainians, who were interned at Spirit Lake during the First World War for no other reason, apart from the fact that they were of Ukrainian descent.

Today we gather to discharge a sacred duty: to remember.
To remember the greatest Canadians. To remember those who laid down their lives in the defence of Canada, of freedom, of human dignity. Who died so that others might live in peace.

The great Jewish chronicler of Hitler’s Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, wrote that: “Forgetting is never an option. Remembering is a noble and necessary act. The call of memory, the call to memory, reaches us from the very dawn of history. No commandment figures so frequently, so insistently, in the Bible. It is incumbent upon us to remember the good we have received, and the evil we have suffered.”

And so today we remember the good done, and the evil suffered, by the courageous men and women who have worn our country’s uniform.

Nous nous souvenons des voltigeurs de Charles de Salaberry, qui avec 1300 canadiens ont repoussé une force d’invasion américaine de 4,000 au cours de la guerre de 1812.

We remember the Canadian volunteers and militia under Sir Isaac Brock and his successors, who protected Canada from American invasion in the War of 1812, the bicentennial of which we commemorate next year.

We remember those who defended Canada during the Fenian Raids, including one of my own ancestors.

We remember those who died in bringing order to the North-West Territories in 1885.

We remember those buried in distant African fields, who between 1899 and 1901 answered the call of a great Empire of which Canada was a proud daughter.

We remember the more than 60,000 Canadians who left their farms, their families, and their homes, to die in the mud of the Somme, Vimy, and Passchendaele, the “shock troops” of the allied forces who accelerated the end of the Great War.

We remember the more than 40,000 Canadians who perished in saving mankind from fascist terror in the Second World War.

We remember the hundreds of Canadians buried in the Korean Peninsula, who defended a democracy from Communist aggression, so that millions could live today in dignity rather than slavery.

We remember those who gave their lives to keep the peace in missions around the world.

And, of course, we remember the 158 Canadians who over the past decade laid down their lives to keep us safe from those who conceived of, planned, and executed the murder of 3,000 innocent civilians, including 24 Canadians, on September 11, 2001.

Today we most poignantly remember Master Corporal Byron Greff of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, killed by extremists in Kabul two weeks ago.

We remember the tens of thousands who today wear Canada’s uniform in our proud Army regiments, in the Royal Canadian Navy, and in the Royal Canadian Air Force, especially those overseas.

We pray for their protection. We thank them for their service.

Just as we thank the veterans who stand before as a living example of selfless courage, dignity, and love of country.

Scripture says:

“And some there be, which have no memorial; who are perished, as though they had never been; and are become as though they had never been born; and their children after them. [but of these and others], … their glory shall not be blotted out. Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.”

May God bless the souls and the sacred memory of our gallant fallen, whose names liveth for evermore.

God bless Canada, and God save the Queen.

We proudly wear the red poppy today in remembrance of the noble and gallant fallen in the wars of our long history. Red is the colour of sacrifice, the colour of blood. Red is the colour of our Canadian flag during the great wars of the last century, the Canadian Red Ensign — and it remains the main colour of our Maple Leaf flag today. We have worn the red poppy since 1921, inspired by the Flanders poppy and by the first line from Lt. Col. John McCrae’s poem, “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row.”

We do not take peace for granted. Throughout most of the human story, the norm for most of mankind has been war and suffering. Peace is the exception in human history. And so we are grateful that, in living memory, most of us have not seen war on the scale that our ancestors knew it — the First World War, in which 600,000 Canadians served; and the Second World War, in which one million Canadians served.

November 11 was the date of the Armistice that ended the First World War, at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month. And since the first Armistice Day, we honour the dead, as well as the living who every day make sacrifices in the hope that we can live in peace.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. So today we remember the 27,000 Canadians who served in the Commonwealth Division. Of these Korean War heroes of the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force, 516 Canadians were killed and some 1,200 wounded.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Seoul, South Korea today — a country that is a free democracy rather than a brutal totalitarian prison, in part because of the Canadian sacrifice 60 years ago. The Prime Minister attended a Remembrance Day service with his counterparts from Australia and the United Kingdom, where he called that conflict, “one of the toughest wars in our history, to defend South Korea against an oppressive communist invader.”

Another anniversary we should remember this year is the South African War or Boer War, 110 years ago. Seven thousand Canadians volunteered to fight in South Africa, though not all of them saw action. In February 1900 the Canadian contingent achieved a great victory in the Battle of Paardeberg. It was a significant triumph, the first time that Canadian regiments had the opportunity to show their prowess overseas.

The story goes that when the Canadians arrived in South Africa, Lord Kitchener was astonished by their size, by their sheer physical stature. Their commander, Sam Steele, replied, “My apologies, sir. I combed all of Canada and these are the smallest I could find.”

Though it is long ago there may be some here who, like me, had a great-grandfather who served far away in the Boer War. They were the first in a long tradition of Canadians who have volunteered to go overseas and to do our part around the world.

Some tell us that Canada’s proud history of military history is something that we should be ashamed of. That, when faced with the aggression of tyrants, we can somehow achieve peace through pacifism.

If we wanted to “end the war” between 1939 and 1945, we could have stopped the fighting at any time. We could have prevented thousands of young Canadian from being killed or injured. We could put on the white poppy and take up the cause of non-violence in 1940, when the bombs were raining down on London and Canadian pilots were fighting overhead in the Spitfires and the Hurricanes. But unfortunately the only way to stop the fighting would have been to surrender to Nazi fascism.

We are fortunate that not only did our government, and that of our Allies, believe it was wrong to surrender to Adolf Hitler — so did one million Canadians, almost all of whom volunteered to fight the enemies of the British Empire and of democratic civilization.

Friends, there is not a single Canadian in the War in Afghanistan, who is not a volunteer. Today we remember the 152 who have made the ultimate sacrifice on the dusty roads and mountain-scapes of Central Asia. Let us never forget that their sacrifice has not been in vain, that they have protected Afghans, Canadians, and the civilized world from a new and dangerous form of fascism that took the lives of 23 Canadians on September 11, 2001, and which would take the lives of countless more if given the chance.

We know that at certain times and in certain places, war is the price of securing the peace. And so let us remember the fallen who went far from home to answer the call of peace, and who gave their lives to everlasting memory.

“Their glory shall not be blotted out. Their bodies are buried in peace. But their name liveth forevermore.”

Hansard- September 18, 2001

Mr. Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to speak to a matter brought to this place by one of the greatest tragedies in modern history. It will undoubtedly be the greatest matter of import dealt with in this parliament and by many of us during our time in this place.

The events of a week ago today hit all Canadians in various personal and emotional ways. My brother was in the World Trade Center the day before the attack. He was to stay in a hotel across the street from it that was destroyed. It brings to mind the role of fate and the randomness of this ferocious violence which has left at least 5,000 families with a great loss from which they will never fully recover.

In contemplating these events we sometimes speak glibly about the need to stand by the United States because it is our friend and trading partner. Both these things are true and both are good reasons to support it.

However there is a higher reason for us to stand by the United States. So often we Canadians seek to strengthen our sense of self by casting a critical eye on the imperfections of our American neighbour. Regrettably we have even heard murmurs of that old discontent throughout the past week in Canada and throughout the past day here in parliament.

However now is a moment, unlike any in our history, for all Canadians to set aside the habit of small mindedness and unashamedly affirm the nobility of the American experiment in democracy and liberty, values we hold in common.

The World Trade Center was perhaps the world’s greatest symbol of economic liberty and free enterprise. It looked out on to the Statue of Liberty, a sight which itself has welcomed millions seeking the blessings of that freedom which we share.

The Pentagon is the great symbol of the American resolve to defend democracy, including our own. It stands within sight of the Lincoln Memorial which is itself across from the Capitol building, the temple of American democracy, which itself was another target. The Lincoln Memorial is a powerful testament to American resolve, to how tirelessly Americans will fight to maintain democracy and government of, by and for the people.

 It was no mistake that the forces of destruction chose these as their targets, for it is freedom and democracy that they fear and seek to destroy. It is these common values which we are now being called to defend.

 As Andrew Coyne of the National Post recently wrote:

The men who destroyed the World Trade Centre are not moved by mere hatred of Israel, or even the United States: it is western civilization they hate, in all its forms, with all its values.  The only way we could escape their wrath would be by abandoning those values, engaging in ever more craven acts of appeasement, until at last there was nothing left of us but self loating.

 I was disturbed yesterday to hear a remark repeated at least half a dozen times in the House. Members of different parties said that the war in which we now find ourselves engaged that has been thrust upon us is not a conflict of good and evil. They said there are no clear, stark moral absolutes here and that we cannot apply normative moral objective categories such as good and evil to the conflict.

Members have said repeatedly that we must focus on the root causes of this ferocious act of terror. These root causes have been nebulously referred to as social inequity, the growing gap between rich and poor, and the uneven distribution of power in international institutions. This is folly.

Let me quote from my leader’s speech yesterday when he said:

Root causes must be addressed, but it is sheer folly, let there be no mistake, when we say that the root cause of terrorism is the terrorists themselves.  The hatred that moves them to massacre the innocent can never be negotiated with or reasoned with.  It is not a matter of shades of grey…This is not a time for moral ambiguity. It is a moment of moral clarity

 For those who would have us address the root causes, would they have stood in this place in the fall of 1939 when Poland was being attacked and invited us to contemplate the root causes of German aggression and Nazi anti-semitism, the humiliation of Germany in the Versailles treaty or the economic crisis in Weimar Germany, and to address the social and economic inequities as the root cause of Nazi terror? No, that is not what our predecessors in this place did. They called evil by its name and committed the nation and all its resources to its complete elimination and unequivocal surrender which cost great quantities of Canadian toil, treasure and blood.

I think that mindset is one which we must now adopt for ourselves at this time. We can have our international organizations and our north-south dialogues. We can address the need to improve living standards in other parts of the world, but that is not what this is about. The attack last week did not come from some nebulous voice of third world inequity. It came from deliberate, evil-minded, malicious killers who were motivated by hate, many of whom have never experienced the kind of poverty that is implied in this reference to root causes. Most of them were well off in some of the wealthiest countries in the world financed by a multimillionaire. This is not about economics. It is not about politics as we would normally understand it. It is about a boldfaced attack on all that we stand for as a western civilization.

If we do not start from that first principle, whatever policy response we have will be inadequate. That is my concern and that is what we have seen reflected, regrettably, in the weakness of response from this country’s leadership to date. I hope that will change.

There is no obvious, clear, simple panacea to this. Pointing to the morally objective nature of this struggle between good and evil does not mean that we embrace simplistic solutions to this incredibly complex problem. On the contrary, the war on terrorism, and it is a war, will require a fight on so many different fronts, including the legislative front. We must do what we can in this parliament to ensure that the principal responsibility of the federal government is for the safety and security of Canadians and Canadian sovereignty. That is what part of our motion today calls for and that is why I am supporting it. I hope other parties and members will too.

We can change our laws but that of course will not stop the terrorists in their lairs in some 30 countries in which they operate and in the several countries that actively sponsor, support and harbour these people. I want to briefly turn my attention to this problem. What I picked up from the debate yesterday was the notion that all we have to do is some very targeted and limited covert action to remove a few of the most guilty hate mongers and terrorists. I heard that it need not be a broader conflict, that it need not involve conventional warfare conflict and that it need not be a state to state matter.

As the defence minister suggested, this is not a conflict between states. I disagree profoundly and it is folly if that is the basis of our action.

As the president of the United States said a week ago last night, he will make no distinction between those states that harbour and support the terrorists and the terrorists themselves. I support that principle of action because those states which make this kind of terror possible are equally culpable. The fury of the free world must be focused not just on the terrorists themselves but on those states and that does mean there will be military conflict of some sort.

It also means that as a free country, as one of the most blessed and wealthiest nations in the world, we have a profound moral obligation to do our duty, to do our share as Canadians have done before. However we are not in a position to do so now. Our military expenditures are less than half the average of NATO countries. We have the second lowest military expenditure in NATO. That means when our allies call upon us to do our share we are not in a position to do so.

I want to close with a call for all of us, the government in particular, to begin a massive reprioritization of the responsibilities of the federal government. Protecting sovereignty, peace and order are our first responsibilities. We must think deeply about changing our priorities so that we can do our share and fulfill our moral obligations in this fight against evil.

“August 15th commemorates the date on which India achieved statehood in 1947. A national holiday in India, the day is also celebrated by Canadians of Indian heritage taking part in community festivities such as picnics, parades and flag-hoisting ceremonies.

“People of Indian descent have played an important role in building our prosperous and pluralistic society, while taking great pride in their culture, heritage and traditions. Their contributions over the years have helped build the strong and diverse Canada we know today, and with India being among the top source countries for newcomers to our country, they will continue to help shape our national story.

“In fact, this year has been officially named the ‘Year of India in Canada,’ and numerous educational and cultural events have allowed all Canadians to share in the rich culture and ongoing contributions of Indo Canadians to our great country.

“As Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, I am delighted to join with members of the almost one million-strong Indo-Canadian community in celebrating this national day, and I wish each and every one of them a very happy Independence Day.”

“Today, Canadians of Pakistani descent will be celebrating Independence Day with family and friends, and the wider community.

“Canada enjoys a strong relationship with Pakistan that is rooted in the nearly 125,000 Canadians of Pakistani heritage. For over a century, members of the Pakistani community have enriched Canada with their skills, their knowledge and their talent. And as Pakistan is one of our top source countries of immigrants, Pakistani Canadians will continue to play an important role in building this country in the 21^st century.

“For all Canadians, Pakistan Independence Day provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the contributions that the Pakistani community has made to this country’s rich and diverse heritage.

“As Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, I extend my best wishes for a very happy and festive Pakistan Independence Day, and a bright and successful future, to everyone in Canada’s Pakistani community.”

I must confess that my first reaction upon reading your open letter to Minister Toews and myself was one of surprise and joy.  For your organization to muster its formidable powers of suasion against the orderly and innoxious proceedings of the Canadian immigration system must mean that the world’s most truculent regimes have discharged their last political prisoners and advocates of democracy are free to march in the streets of Tehran and Pyongyang.  I have since learned this is not the case, leaving me puzzled as to why Amnesty International (AI) would waste its time and resources opposing the legal deportation of war criminals and serious human rights violators from Canada. 

When I joined AI in high school, it was to defend the rights of political dissidents like Andrei Sakharov and to oppose brutal regimes, including those still doing bloody business in Iran and North Korea.  I am disappointed to learn you are now squandering the moral authority accrued in those campaigns on targeting one of the most generous immigration systems in the world, and protesting the actions of Canadian public servants applying rules and laws that far exceed our international obligations.

I will take your points in order.  You begin by expressing “concern” that the government published the names and photos of individuals “who have been accused of having committed war crimes or crimes against humanity who are believed to be residing in Canada.”  Let me pause here to correct a common misconception, one shared by many in the press.  These men are not merely “accused” or “alleged” human rights violators; the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) does not make allegations or accusations – it makes formal findings of fact and its decisions may be appealed to the federal courts.  Every one of these men was found to be inadmissible to Canada under section 35 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.  This means that the IRB found that “there are reasonable grounds to believe” that each of these men committed “an offence referred to in sections 4 to 7 of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act,” i.e., they were complicit in genocide, crimes against humanity or a war crime.  These findings were based on evidence – including, in many cases, voluntary admissions – after formal proceedings during which these men had the right to be represented by counsel.

You are further “concerned that the initiative does not conform to Canada’s obligations with respect to human rights and international justice.”  Poppycock.  The due process these individuals have already been afforded exceeds both the requirements of the Charter and Canada’s international treaty obligations.  Individuals are not lightly or easily deported in Canada; it typically involves multiple levels of review and appeal and can take years or even decades.  Casually asserting that this generous system violates “human rights and international justice,” without elaboration or specific citations, is sloppy and irresponsible.  In fact, this is precisely the slander you wrongly accuse the government of directing at the deportees.  More troubling, it dilutes the meaning of the words “human rights and international justice,” the moral authority of which is threatened by such reckless imprecision and promiscuous misapplication by self-proclaimed “human rights” organizations.

You correctly note that these men have “been found ineligible for entry into Canada on the basis of these accusations, and have been ordered deported” (though the snide preface “apparently” is unnecessary and unworthy), but you object that “the details about the nature, basis or seriousness of the accusations against them have [not] been made public.”  This is not entirely true and, where true, not fair.

Where the individuals have made their records public, either voluntarily or in federal court, the details of their cases are well known.  For example, we know that one of the 30 men still at large, Jose Domingo Malaga Arica, admitted to participating in helicopter raids on villages in which women and children were machine-gunned indiscriminately and to transporting accused criminals to be tortured.  We know this because his federal court record is public.  However, in cases where no exception to the Privacy Act applies, the government has not revealed such detailed information.  What would AI’s reaction be if we did?  I think I can guess from your demand at the end of your letter that we do more to “safeguard” the “privacy” of these scofflaws.  You can’t have it both ways: you can’t protest that we have not revealed enough information about these men at the same time you oppose our identifying them at all.  Is it your position that the Canadian public does not deserve to know that these men are hiding among us unless or until each of them has signed a privacy waiver allowing details of their complicity in crimes against humanity to be made public?  If so, I respectfully disagree.  I believe the Canadian public deserves better.

You also complain that we have chosen to deport these men, instead of trying them for war crimes or crimes against humanity.  Our primary duty as a government is to protect Canada and Canadians.  Deporting these men discharges this duty and ensures Canada will not become a sanctuary for international war criminals and serious human rights abusers.  We are not obligated to conduct full-blown trials, at the cost of millions of taxpayer dollars, to prosecute every inadmissible individual for crimes committed in distant countries, often decades ago.  In addition to the extraordinary time and cost this would require, it would burden an already-strained legal system and clog our courts with foreign criminals.  Moreover, in many cases the lack of accessible evidence, local witnesses and a meaningful connexion between Canada and the crimes committed would make prosecution a quixotic proposition.  That said, where an individual is the subject of a warrant from a foreign court or tribunal, we will consider turning him over to the appropriate authorities.  Our preeminent goal, however, is defending Canada and upholding the integrity of our immigration system by enforcing these outstanding deportation orders.    

On one point, at least, I am pleased to be able to allay your concerns.  You fear that these individuals “might be at risk of serious human rights violations,” such as “torture, extrajudicial execution or enforced disappearance,” when they are returned to their home countries.  As you know, every one of these men is entitled to a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA), which ensures that Canada complies with its existing treaty obligations and does not refoule even the worst of offenders to face “torture, extrajudicial execution or enforced disappearance.”  They are also entitled to apply for judicial review by the federal courts of a negative PRRA decision, providing for multiple layers of protection.

Finally, you claim to be “concerned about the fact that these cases have been so widely publicized” given the “reputational harm” it may cause these men and the hypothetical risk it may impose on them or their relatives.  No doubt such exquisitely burnished sympathy does you credit.  However, as a former AI member, may I suggest that ostentatious hand-wringing over the good name of war criminals and human rights violators may sit uneasily with those AI members who, perhaps naively, believe your compassion should be reserved for their victims.

The Canadian public understandably wants war criminals and human rights violators kept out of Canada.  When they sneak in or escape before they can be sent home, the public wants us to find them and remove them.  Not coincidentally, this is also what the law requires.  Your calls for more time, more process, more deference and more protection for war criminals and serious human rights violators, by contrast, come across as self-congratulatory moral preening.  I have listened to your concerns, and, frankly, I prefer the common sense of the people and the law.     

Sincerely,

 The Hon. Jason Kenney, M.P., P.C.