canada does the right thing

Yesterday the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously that security certificates violate the Charter.
The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down the security certificate system used by the federal government to detain and deport foreign-born terrorist suspects.

In a 9-0 judgment handed down Friday, the court found that the system, described by the government as a key tool for safeguarding national security, violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The high court gave Parliament one year to re-write the law that's keeping three men at the centre of the case in legal limbo.

It's excellent to see that the decision was unanimous, and that the court has charged lawmakers with changing the law.

There's a story on the CBC website this morning that tells something of what the detainees and their families have been going through - although I'm sure it barely scratches the surface of their years of hell.

For me, it's a relief to see that Canada will move in its own direction, away from the fear-mongering that discounts human rights and civil liberties in the quest for an elusive security. I'm so relieved that Canada has, at last, done the right thing.

Meanwhile, the Guantánamo concentration camps live on.

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