Home >> United States & Canada >> Canada - Domestic

     Email   Print 

Ruling by Hon. Frank Iacobucci to rebalance national security and individual rights

Naresh Raghubeer and David Harris - 6/4/2007

The Canadian Coalition for Democracies welcomes Hon. Frank Iacobucci’s ruling of 31 May 2007, concerning his mandate as Commissioner of the Internal Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin. (See “Ruling on Terms of Reference and Procedure”)

Commissioner Iacobucci must determine by 31 January 2008 whether Canadian officials played a role in the alleged mistreatment abroad of three Canadian-based Muslim men. The Canadian Coalition for Democracies has intervenor status at the Inquiry.

The CCD believes Commissioner Iacobucci’s ruling strikes a reasonable balance between competing priorities and considerations, one that will avoid some of the shortcomings of previous inquiries.

In his ruling, the Commissioner emphasized the importance of thorough and impartial truth-seeking. He underscored the need for careful but expeditious progress through proceedings, and embraced the principles of practicability and workability in ensuring that this comes about.

The ruling conveys the welcome impression that the Inquiry will not allow itself to be used as a forum for agendas extraneous to the Inquiry mandate. By this decision, the Commissioner, Commission Counsel and staff commit themselves to an Internal Inquiry conducted in the public interest, rather than in the narrower interest of specific groups or individuals.

To this end, the Iacobucci Internal Inquiry’s ruling gives clear notice that the Inquiry will remain true to its mandate. Relying on a broadly investigative and inquisitorial model of inquiry, the Commissioner will favour the use of in camera proceedings while seeking input as appropriate from participants, intervenors and others.

The Canadian Coalition for Democracies is gratified to see in this ruling recognition of the need to respect bona fide national-security confidentiality. The Commissioner’s commitment in this regard stems from his stated awareness of the dangers of terrorism facing Canada , and the need to avoid unnecessarily compromising the effectiveness of those sources, methods, individuals and agencies dedicated to preserving the safety of Canadians.