Question

Examine the case of Maher Arar. Where the actions of the federal government in this instance justified? Did they sacrifice the rights of one for the good of many? If so, what challenges does this present to liberal societies in the 21st Century?

Answer 1

Maher Arar is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who has resided in Canada since 1987. Mr. Arar’s wife, Monia Mazigh, contacted Amnesty International Canada’s Secretary General Alex Neve when he was detained in New York. When Amnesty International learned that Mr. Arar had been deported to Syria, we issued the first of a series of Urgent Actions on the case raising concerns about Mr. Arar’s disappearance. We continued to issue Urgent Actions and urge Canadian authorities to intervene with Syrian and US officials over the course of the following year.

• The new national security review and oversight body should be comprehensive of all Canadian agencies undertaking national security activities;
• The review body must be independent from government and be composed of a diverse group of experts. It should have the power to independently launch reviews upon receipt of individual complaints and have unhindered access to information that may be classified, and the ability to make recommendations. The review body’s decisions should be made public, and it should engage in public education to build awareness and develop trust among Canadians in national security agencies;
• The Canadian government should develop and integrate Human Rights Protocols in all information-sharing agreements and arrangements with foreign governments.

In 2007, Mr. Harper’s government set an admirable example of decency. After an extensive investigation that concluded Mr. Arar had no ties to terror, Canada offered him a formal apology and compensation worth millions of dollars for providing the unsubstantiated information to American officials that helped trigger his nightmare.

Liberalism was one of the main vehicles that made that lowering of the costs of exchange a reality. Its doctrines celebrated trade, gave individuals decision rights over resources, freed individuals from the bonds of serfdom, and separated science from religious dogma.

The challenge for liberalism in the 21st century is the same as in the past—there will be conservative forces that provide the headwinds. These conservative forces come in the form of the entrenched interests of the status quo establishment elite, and the populist movements on the left and the right, who while criticizing the establishment ironically demand simply more of the same policies just in greater proportion—more government intervention, more regulation of industry, more restrictions on the movement of people, more restrictions on the flow of capital, etc.