iPolitics 26/02/2016 - Believe it or not - and I had a hard time believing it myself - no one on the committee asked Coulombe a single question about CSIS's traffic in purloined tax records. Instead, former Veterans Affairs minister Erin O'Toole wasted time chiding Liberal MP Nathanial Erskine-Smith for being unaware that CSIS has "no arrest powers" ... and over his private member's bill on shark's fin soup. NDP MP and co-vice chair Matthew Dubé asked Paulson and Coulombe about their anti-radicalization efforts and seemed quite content with their anodyne replies. ("Fantastic," he said.) The easily-impressed Dubé seems to have forgotten that Paulson pulled the plug on the RCMP's support for a handbook produced by the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Islamic Social Services Association that was designed to stop young Muslim Canadians from joining extremist terror groups. Oh well. To be fair, the committee's muted response to CSIS getting up to its old, dirty tricks was mirrored by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale's own indifference. Goodale wasted no time finding a microphone on the Hill to describe the goings-on at the police college as an "embarrassment" and call for a swift investigation. But, like the members of the committee, Goodale has kept mostly silent about allegations of serious misconduct by CSIS.

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NDP miffed at Liberal silence on MP security oversight panel

National security policy under review, says Goodale

The ICLMG has endorsed this opinion piece

Justice for Harkat Committee 29/02/2016 - The court has declared unconstitutional the practice of destroying original information on which the allegations are based. Despite this, the government is still relying on summaries of information that was destroyed for its rationale for keeping Mr. Harkat under surveillance and seeking his deportation. [...] Mr. Harkat fears torture and execution if he is returned [to Algeria] - especially after having been labeled a terrorist by Canada, despite never having been charged and never having committed a crime. He has every reason to be afraid.

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Ottawa Citizen 01/03/2016 - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's brother has written to a federal cabinet minister on behalf of Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat, asking the Liberal government to continue its "sunny ways" by allowing the Algerian-born terror suspect to stay in Canada. Alexandre Trudeau, a Montreal-based filmmaker, said he has a policy of not lobbying the Liberal government in any way, but decided to make an exception in the Harkat case because his  involvement in the cause predated his older brother's entry into politics. In his letter, dated Feb. 27, Trudeau appealed to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to halt the unfair security certificate process and end the government's attempt to deport Harkat. "I urge you to use your unique position as minister, and the discretion afforded to you under the law, to exempt Mohamed Harkat from deportation and let him stay and live a productive life in Canada," Alexandre Trudeau wrote, adding: "Make this decision of yours another shining example of your government's commitment to sunny ways."

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God willing: The story of Sophie Harkat

Canadian citizen detained in United Arab Emirates for 551 days

Free Salim Alaradi 29/02/2016 - At the end of today's hearing, the judge postponed the trial to March 21st 2016 to allow for the subpoena and testimony of the former President of Libya who served during the National Transition Council (NTC), the internationally recognized government after the Libyan revolution. Canadian citizen Salim Alaradi of Libyan origin, like many Libyans, was a philanthropist who sent relief supplies to help with the suffering of the Libyan people after the revolution in 2011. The legal team intends for the former President of Libya to confirm that Alaradi strictly sent supplies directly to the NTC government, a testimony that will only reaffirm written statements provided by the NTC administration. The trial was also postponed to allow for the forensic medical assessment, conducted by a court-appointed physician, scheduled to take place this Thursday. The lawyers have no doubt that a fair and independent examination will corroborate that severe torture took place which has been confirmed by the United Nations (UN).

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The Toronto Star 03/03/2016 - For a year, the Mounties have been trying to get hold of all correspondence between Makuch and a Calgary resident named Farah Shirdon, whom the RCMP accuses of leaving Canada to participate in terrorist activities with Daesh. Makuch first contacted Shirdon in 2014, and wrote three articles about him that year. The Mounties say Makuch's notes contain evidence of Shirdon's crimes, and served him with a search warrant last year at Vice's offices. The journalist and his publication have refused to hand over the notes, and the issue is now before an Ontario court. State meddling into journalism is far more of a threat to Canadians than the alleged terrorist affiliations of an individual. Shirdon's message for Canadians who support war with Daesh is chilling: "you shall see your streets filled with blood." Such a view ought to be public, and we have Makuch to thank for interviewing Shirdon and exposing his hateful views. But journalists do not work for the RCMP, and should be free to do our jobs without the government looking over our shoulders, or denying us the confidentiality we need to find sources and get information.

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The New York Times 25/02/2016 - The Obama administration is on the verge of permitting the National Security Agency to share more of the private communications it intercepts with other American intelligence agencies without first applying any privacy protections to them, according to officials familiar with the deliberations. The change would relax longstanding restrictions on access to the contents of the phone calls and email the security agency vacuums up around the world, including bulk collection of satellite transmissions, communications between foreigners as they cross network switches in the United States, and messages acquired overseas or provided by allies. The idea is to let more experts across American intelligence gain direct access to unprocessed information, increasing the chances that they will recognize any possible nuggets of value. That also means more officials will be looking at private messages - not only foreigners' phone calls and emails that have not yet had irrelevant personal information screened out, but also communications to, from, or about Americans that the N.S.A.'s foreign intelligence programs swept in incidentally.

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