Landmark Supreme Court Decision on Security Certificates

The Association is celebrating a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in a trio of appeals that assessed the constitutionality of the security certificate provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The Court struck down the provisions, holding that the non-disclosure of evidence at security certificate hearings is incompatible with the principles of fundamental justice.

Jason Gratl, President of the BCCLA: "The result sets the constitutional limits on the power of the executive to rely on secret evidence to infringe the core interests of a non-citizen's right to life, liberty and security of the person."

The Canadian government has used security certificates to deport non-citizens to their countries of origin, in some cases at the risk of torture, on the basis that they pose a threat to national security. Security certificate detainees do not have access to the government's evidence, are barred from secret trials assessing their case and have been held for indefinite periods in sub-standard prison facilities. Three men imprisoned under security certificates in Kingston recently engaged in a hunger strike for over eight months to protest the conditions of their detention. The BCCLA intervened in the hearing before the Supreme Court of Canada to argue that the security certificate provisions would not contravene the Charter of Rights and Freedoms if the Court would read in various due process protections.

The BCCLA's legal argument

The Supreme Court of Canada's decision

The BCCLA and Pivot Legal Society (Pivot) called for the legislature to introduce civilian investigation of police misconduct in British Columbia as soon as possible, following the release of Josiah Wood, Q.C.'s audit of 294 police complaints in the province.

"The product of the investigative audit is found in Appendix C of the report. The audit provides reliable evidence that police are unable to investigate themselves", says Jason Gratl, President of the BCCLA. "We now have more than anecdotes to justify legislative reform."

The audit found that:

• 1 in 3 investigations of allegations of excessive use of force by police had major errors and omissions that may have led to incorrect results, and 0 of 94 complaints of excessive use of force were substantiated by police investigators;
• there have been systemic attempts to undermine the complaints process, including police failure to forward 46 files to Crown Counsel for criminal prosecution despite the circumstances warranting prosecutorial involvement;
• the tendency for problems to exist in investigations is more prevalent in more serious complaints.

The audit was proposed by the BCCLA in 2005 and implemented in the wake of the investigation of 50 police complaints filed by Pivot and documented in Pivot's 2002 report To Serve and Protect. Independent civilian investigation models exist in other Canadian provinces.

The transfer by Canadian Forces of individuals detained or captured in Afghanistan must not lead to the possibility of torture, say Amnesty International and the BCCLA. An application for judicial review of the actions of Canadian Forces regarding the transfers that have taken place under the Canada-Afghanistan Detainee Agreement has been launched by the two organizations.

"Canadian Forces handling detainees in Afghanistan operate under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and are bound by Canada's international human rights obligations", says Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada. "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person under the Charter and international law. Individuals detained by Canadian Forces must not face the threat of torture after being transferred."

There are strong grounds to believe that Afghan forces are torturing detainees. An extensive record of pervasive and widespread torture in Afghanistan has been well documented by international organizations monitoring human rights issues. "The rule of law in Afghanistan is absent and with the transfer of prisoners to Afghan authorities, the Canadian Forces become complicit in a process that can lead to torture," says Shirley Heafey, a Board member of the BCCLA.

The application for a judicial review in Federal Court seeks a declaration that the Canada-Afghanistan Detainee Agreement offends Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it does not adequately protect detainees from the likelihood of torture by Aghan authorities or other third countries. "Canadian soldiers must never be part of a process that could lead to torture", says Neve. "The detainee agreement should mirror our domestic values and match our international commitments and not be a conduit to possible future human rights violations."

The BCCLA is calling on its members and supporters to contact the leaders and Members of Parliament in all federal parties to oppose the renewal of two provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act that will sunset on March 1, 2007.

Investigative hearings permit law enforcement and security agents to force individuals to answer questions relating to an investigation of a terrorism offence even if they are not a suspect in a terrorist investigation. Preventive detentions authorize the arrest and detention of someone on mere suspicion of a terrorist activity without charges. The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois are all opposing the renewal of the provisions. The Conservatives will vote for renewal.

To voice your support for sunsetting of these provisions, you can call any MP toll free at
1-866-599-4999. List of MP’s and contact info.

Aside from you local MP, you should contact key MPs including:

Liberal Party of Canada:
Stephane Dion 613-996-5789
Marlene Jennings (Justice critic)
Sue Barnes (Public Safety Critic)

Conservative Party of Canada:
Stephen Harper
Prime Minister Stockwell Day, Minister for Public Safety

NDP
Jack Layton, Leader

BQ
Gilles Duceppe

Magnifying the extraordinary nature of these clauses is a definition of terrorist activity that is overly broad. As the BCCLA noted in its submission to Parliamentary Committees reviewing the Anti- Terrorism Act in 2005 and 2006, this overly broad definition may result in the RCMP and CSIS focusing their anti-terrorist investigations on religious and ideological groups. The BCCLA gathered evidence of this problem and submitted it to Parliament as part of our brief on the Act.

 
Racial Profiling Conference

A Special Invitation to a national conference on Racial Profiling to be held Saturday, May 12, 2007 at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver BC. Tickets are $25. Keynote Speaker: Professor Kent Roach (University of Toronto). In addition to Professor Roach, other confirmed speakers include:

• Professors David Tanovich (University of Windsor),
• Reg Whitaker (University of Victoria), Scot Wortley (University of Toronto),
• Frances Henry and Carol Tator (York University),
• Reem Bhadi (University of Windsor),
• Barbara Jackman, QC (Immigration and Refugee Lawyer) and
• Jameel Jaffer and Reginald Shuford of the American Civil Liberties Union.

If you are interested in attending this important event, please contact Sarah at sarah@bccla.org or call 604.687.2919.

  The Annual LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium

Canadians have come to believe that the diversity we enjoy in our country is familiar and reassuring. But what about the future of a Canada which lives with difference but does not understand it? Is it necessary to prepare for a future in which contrasting values and expectations could clash? In A Society of Difference, Adrienne Clarkson reflects in a provocative and original manner on the challenges we must face individually and as part of the community we have created around us.

Adrienne Clarkson will deliver the LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture at the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver on Friday March 2 (900 West Georgia Street, 7 pm-9 pm), where she will present a vital discussion on citizenship and democracy entitled The Society of Difference.

Tickets $10.00
Contact: 604.280.4444/TICKETMASTER.CA

The next morning, Saturday March 3, Symposium Chair John Ralston Saul will lead a free Public Town Hall discussion at the Vancouver Public Library (Alice McKay Room, 350 West Georgia Street, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM).

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