The Toronto Star 22/06/2016 - The last time a CSIS director got a remotely rough ride at a parliamentary committee hearing was in 1999, when then Progressive Conservative justice critic, Peter MacKay, had a prickly exchange with Ward Elcock over who decides what "national security" means when it comes to answering questions posed by MPs. Not surprisingly, Elcock told MacKay that he did. This old, haughty attitude remains a signature staple of Bill C-22. The committee may have, on paper, "extraordinary access" to all the secrets, but the bill explicitly allows the prime minister and his ministers to refuse to disclose information to the committee and halt any inquiry when and if they decide - unilaterally - that it would compromise "national security." And who gets to review, censor and sign off on the committee's annual report before Parliament can have a peek at it... Prime Minister Trudeau and the PMO. Well, so much for the committee's "independence."

Read more - Lire plus

Ottawa Citizen 21/06/2016 - Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan's work in the Canadian Forces, which included setting the stage for the killing or capture of some 1,500 Afghan insurgents, is enough to disqualify him from making the decision not to conduct a public inquiry into alleged abuses of detainees, say those pushing for such an investigation. Sajjan, who could have been a potential witness for any Afghan inquiry, has dismissed outright the need for such an investigation even as new abuse allegations emerge. Last week, Sajjan responded to an e-petition calling for the inquiry by stating the Canadian government ensured detainees were humanely treated, transferred or released in accordance with international law. That is a reversal of the Liberal's demands, when in opposition, for a public inquiry.

Read more - Lire plus

No need for inquiry into Afghan detainee torture, Liberals say

Ricochet 23/06/2016 - On two occasions while in opposition, the Liberal Party of Canada voted in favour of the government finally issuing an apology and compensation to Almalki and the other men. [...] Fast forward to early February 2016. Rather than abiding by their word and presumably solemn votes, the Trudeau government did a shocking volte face and told the Almalki family that government lawyers would, in fact, continue to challenge them in court. [...] Trudeau's supposed reasoning for double-crossing the Almalki family is a classic and predictable example of another craven politician capitulating in order to satisfy the parochial interests and demands of Canada's unaccountable national security apparatus, rather than righting a dreadful wrong visited upon an innocent man and his family by a government that should have protected them. [...] Earlier this month, as part of discovery process related to the civil suit, Justice Department lawyers again "cross-examined" at length not only Almalki, but also his wife, two oldest children and his elderly mother. Almalki says an RCMP officer - tied to the now discredited original probe of him - was present throughout several of the interviews. As well, government lawyers wanted to cross-examine his frail 91-year-old father in person, but agreed, reluctantly and at the last moment, to conduct the questioning in writing. "My family has been re-traumatized," Almalki said.

Read more - Lire plus

Latest CIA Torture Docs Show "Evidence of War Crimes" & Level of Brutality That Even Shocked Bush

The Globe and Mail 23/06/2016 - Ms. Hoodfar's imprisonment is the latest in a series of such arrests of dual nationals, and analysts have various theories about why this is happening now. Whatever the reasons may be, the federal government must work quickly to secure her release, as she is reportedly in poor health and being denied access to necessary medical care for a neurological condition. There has reportedly been no contact with Ms. Hoodfar since her detention, by either her family or Canadian officials. As the family prepares to push Stéphane Dion for action Thursday, we are reminded that the government must have better protections for Canadians unfairly held abroad. Perhaps if Canada adopts the Protection Charter, put forward earlier this year by Amnesty International and the Fahmy Foundation, Ms. Hoodfar's ordeal, and those of other Canadians currently held unjustly abroad - Huseyin Celil in China and Bashir Maktal in Ethiopia - would be more quickly resolved. Canada loses a little bit of its own strength every time one of its own is made to disappear.

Read more - Lire plus

'I'm overwhelmed': Canadian freed from U.A.E. prison arrives in Toronto (video)

The Intercept 17/06/2016 - This stands in stark contrast to a very similar incident that took place in the U.K. in 2010, when a British MP, Stephen Timms, was brutally stabbed and almost killed by a woman angry over his vote in support of the Iraq War. In that case, British media outlets almost uniformly called the attack "terrorism" [...] The difference is obvious: Timms's attacker was a Muslim of Bangladeshi descent, while Cox's alleged killer ... is not. As I've written repeatedly, the word "terrorism" has no real concrete meaning and certainly no consistent application. In the West, functionally speaking, it's now a propaganda term with little meaning other than "a Muslim who engages in violence against Westerners or their allies." It's even used for Muslims who attack soldiers of an army occupying their country.

Read more - Lire plus

Jo Cox was working on report on anti-Muslim attacks before her death

Meet the FBI Informant Who Organized Neo-Nazi Gathering Attended by Jo Cox Murder Suspect in 2000

The US Supreme Court Just Ruled In Favor Of The Police State, And Sonia Sotomayor Is Not Having It

Slovakia's leader said Islam has 'no place' in his country. Now he's taking a leadership role in the E.U.

Pig's head left outside Quebec City mosque with 'bon appétit' note

Time for the Canadian right to deal with the violent extremists in its midst

ACLU 20/06/2016 - It may sound appealing to regulate firearms by using the government's blacklisting system for what it calls "known or suspected terrorists," but we have long experience analyzing the myriad problems with that system, and based on what we know, it needs major overhaul. Our nation's watchlisting system is error-prone and unreliable because it uses vague and overbroad criteria and secret evidence to place individuals on blacklists without a meaningful process to correct government error and clear their names. [...] The government contends that it can place Americans on the No Fly List who have never been charged let alone convicted of a crime, on the basis of prediction that they nevertheless pose a threat (which is undefined) of conduct that the government concedes "may or may not occur." Criteria like these guarantee a high risk of error and it is imperative that the watchlisting system include due process safeguards-which it does not. In the context of the No Fly List, for example, the government refuses to provide even Americans who know they are on the List with the full reasons for the placement, the basis for those reasons, and a hearing before a neutral decision-maker. It is unsurprising that a system like this is not just bloated, but applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner.

Read more - Lire plus

The US Democrats Are Boldly Fighting For a Bad, Stupid Bill

Grounded: Life on the No Fly List (webcomic)

The Official Narrative of the Orlando Shooter Has Completely Collapsed

CIA has not found any link between Orlando killer and Isis, says agency chief

Before Omar Mateen Committed Mass Murder, the FBI Tried To Lure Him Into a Terror Plot

Radio-Canada 22/06/2016 - La Cour supérieure du Québec invalide deux articles du règlement P-6 de la Ville de Montréal sur les manifestations : l'article 2.1 interdisant le port d'un masque et l'article 3.2 obligeant à fournir un itinéraire avant une manifestation spontanée. Concernant l'interdiction de porter un masque, le jugement stipule que la mesure est excessive et déraisonnable en plus de contrevenir à la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés puisqu'elle porte atteinte à la liberté d'expression. Dans sa décision, la juge Chantal Masse précise qu'il n'est pas nécessaire de fournir un itinéraire losqu'une manifestation est spontanée. Ce jugement est rendu quatre ans après le dépôt d'une requête en inconstitutionnalité par Julien Villeneuve, aussi connu sous le nom d'Anarchopanda pour la gratuité scolaire et porte-parole du Comité permanent de soutien aux manifestants. La démarche avait été initiée après l'ajout d'amendements au Règlement P-6 dans le contexte des manifestations étudiantes en 2012. Le comité appelle maintenant «au retrait immédiat des accusations en suspens relatives au règlement P-6». Il souhaite également que «le SPVM procède à une réforme de ses pratiques», a-t-il indiqué dans un communiqué.

Lire plus - Read more

Dégradation du droit de manifester à Québec - la ville fait la sourde oreille

Loi travail : des contrôles inédits en amont de la nouvelle manifestation

Quand Hollande déclarait : « Le seul droit que nous avons, c'est celui de manifester »

'Exhausted' French police plead with unions to postpone fresh protests so they can recover

Matthew Behrens: Saying no to Canada's death game