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Protecting security and rights with equal vigour

Jonathan Kay's Feb. 27 column ("National Security vs. Liberal ethnopolitics") swallows whole the line that Prime Minister Stephen Harper raised last week of a convoluted conspiracy in the Liberal party for a vote in return for support at the leadership convention. He states as fact that "there is little doubt that certain ethnopolitical special interests are calling the shots" with regard to the Liberal party's position on the sunset clauses in the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Mr. Kay never contacted myself or any other senior Liberal for an on-the-record comment on how the Liberal party came to the conclusion that the two provisions in question should sunset. Had he done so, I would have described to him the caucus consultations that have taken place over the past month where Liberal members discussed in good faith the relative merits and deficiencies of investigative hearings and preventive arrests.

I would have informed him how a consensus emerged in our caucus that five years after their initial introduction, it was incumbent upon the government to prove to Parliament and Canadians that these extraordinary powers were effective and necessary in the fight against terrorism. The government completely failed in this task, choosing to demonize their political opponents rather than defend the actual provisions in question.

The government didn't do its homework. We were left with the impression that the government was more interested in playing politics with this issue than actually seeing the measure passed.

I would have made sure that Mr. Kay was aware the Liberal caucus is resolved in its determination to fight against terrorism and ensure that the rights of Canadians are respected. That is why we continue to support the vast majority of the provisions in the Anti-Terrorism Act, including the new anti-terrorism offences and increased surveillance capabilities.

Mr. Kay would have heard from me that serious concerns were raised by the Liberal caucus about the impact of investigative hearings and preventive arrests on the reputation of innocent individuals, individuals who become caught, through no fault of their own, in a web of suspicion and innuendo. The previous Liberal government put safeguards in these measures to ensure justice for these individuals in the courtroom. But these safeguards do not address the individual's right outside the courtroom where there is no judge to rule unfair or untrue comments out of order.

You can see a parallel here with the case of Maher Arar. Once he became known as a "person of interest" in an investigation, his name and reputation were damaged. I would have reminded Mr. Kay of how members of the Conservative opposition at the time exploited suspicion around Mr. Arar to portray their opponents, outrageously, as soft on terrorism.

I would have also told Mr. Kay that the sunsetting of these two provisions was never discussed at any time with any leadership contender as a condition of support at the leadership convention. And far from extracting any kind of price for their support, Liberal MPs such as Navdeep Bains and Omar Alghabra encouraged members of newer Canadian cultural communities to get democratically engaged in politics for the candidate they believed in, not even seeking traditional campaign titles for themselves in return.

Despite Mr. Kay's belief that there is a grand conspiracy afoot, the truth is that each leadership camp enjoyed the support of Liberals of Sikh origin from across the country. Far from being shunned, Bob Rae was in fact one of the candidates to be supported by significant numbers of Sikh Canadians, including his campaign chair, former B.C. premier and current Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh and former Cabinet minister Herb Dhaliwal.

Michael Ignatieff, Gerard Kennedy and myself also had significant numbers of Sikh-Canadian delegates. This is not a surprise since we each had campaigns that appealed to Canadians of all creeds, colours and ethnicity. Such inclusivity may confuse people like Mr. Kay but it is irresponsible of him to suggest that the only possible explanation for such participation by ethnic minorities in politics is a nefarious plot to undermine national security.

The Liberal Party of Canada will not be intimidated away from its agenda of protecting Canadians' security and their human rights with equal vigour, certainly not by the personal attacks of Prime Minister Harper and Mr. Kay.