Mohammed Harkat

The question before the people of Canada is whether they want to permit people who may be bent on the destruction of our society to live here, even though authorities cannot prove intent by the strictest tests of our 1,000 year old book of British law. It’s a big volume full of magnificence and mistakes compiled and handed down by lawmakers ranging from the Barons of Magna Carta to Chief Justice Bora Laskin. Now citizens are again going to be exposed — if not exactly treated — to another rendering of this vexing challenge as the case of Mohammed Harkat goes back to the Supreme Court for a second time.  Harkat is an Algerian-born terrorist suspect who came here from Pakistan in 1995. He had no authority to do so but in those days it was easy to say you were a refugee from certain torture if you were sent back. Among other things, he delivered pizza. It’s honest work. But successive governments, both Liberal and Conservative, have insisted that Harkat came here as a sleeper agent of Al Qaeda. For all we know, that may be right — or wrong. How do you like your chances so far at protecting yourself and upholding our principles of justice at the same time? The security act, which pre-dates 9/11, has been re-written to try to plug some of the holes found by the Supreme Court the last time it pondered this matter.  But this weekend the court said it will hear again the contention of Harkat’s lawyers that he is not sufficiently protected from arbitrary Canadian determination to deport him.