What they said

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 7:42 PM - 2 Comments

Richard Colvin testified that he and his colleagues in the field began informing Ottawa about the treatment of detainees in May 2006. He left Afghanistan in October 2007 and most of his testimony covered events in between.

Herein, in the first of three posts covering relevant public comments made during Question Period, a collection of QP exchanges from April 5, 2006 to October 2, 2006. Continue…

The right to die

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM - 10 Comments

Conservative MP Steven Fletcher says Francine Lalonde’s bill on euthanasia is flawed, but the idea needs to be properly considered.

I want to be empowered to make the best decisions for myself; and if I am unable, I want the people who love me to do what they think is in my best interest. I do not want to be forced to live in a hell because the law does not take into account my “unique” circumstances or because someone imposed their values on the meaning of life on me. Given the choice of existence without living or death, I would rather choose the latter and take my chances on the other side.

In sum, what I believe is this: I support the right of an individual to choose to die with dignity. However, for that choice to be genuinely free, and for society to have confidence in that choice, we must know that we are giving the severely injured and ill the support needed to prevent them from losing hope– through the health-care system, social workers, therapy, spiritual counselling, proper insurance coverage (including automobile, and workers compensation) and the like.

Idea alert

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 16, 2009 at 1:50 PM - 87 Comments

Writing about Francine Lalonde’s private member’s bill on euthanasia, Don Martin considers the national conversation we’re not having.

Parliament, however, has been notoriously shy about having this discussion — even though prolonged agony continues to haunt thousands of Canadians who want an assisted way out of life, but are prevented from finding a legal exit.

For the seventh time in 18 years, a private member’s bill on the subject has been introduced and may reach the Commons floor this fall. For the seventh time, the bill seems doomed to die from a lack of political oxygen.

The Commons: A terribly serious discussion

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 7:05 PM - 35 Comments

The Scene. In the absence of the Liberal leader, Bob Rae rose to ask the first question, receiving sincere applause from his side and a mocking ovation from the other. The Speaker called for order.

“I appreciate the expressions of support, Mr. Speaker,” Rae grinned, “as late in the day as they may be.”

Another round of applause from the government side. Then down to business. “I would like to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs a question,” Rae began, proceeding to review the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik.

The story is roughly as follows. For the past year, Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen, has been living in the Canadian embassy in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, unable to return home. He was arrested in Sudan in 2003 and claims to have been tortured during 19 months in prison there. Accused of having connections to terrorism, he was never charged and has since been cleared by both the RCMP and CSIS. He remains, courtesy of the Bush administration apparently, on a United Nations list that seeks to ban the travel of potential threats. The Canadian government has asked that Abdelrazik be removed from said list and, for a time it seems, offered to let him come home if he could secure a plane ticket. But last month, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon denied Abdelrazik’s request for an emergency passport on the grounds of national security and the government has since said that the Canadian’s presence on the UN list bars him from returning. The whole tale is now before the Federal Court.

It was the latest news—that an official with the UN says its list in no way bars Canada from flying Abdelrazik back—that sent Rae to his feet. Continue…

A noted return

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 5:54 PM - 2 Comments

The Bloc’s Francine Lalonde, who is battling cancer, returned to the House today and received a standing ovation from all sides when she rose to ask the last question of Question Period. A rough translation of her query.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the House adopted the report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on Omar Khadr. Of the seven recommendations in this report, one recommends that the Government of Canada ask that Omar Khadr be released from Guantanamo and handed over to Canadian authorities as soon as possible. Does the government intend to respect the will of this House?