Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Mahar Arar: Who knew what when?


Somewhere between these two statements lies the truth:


"I learned that in that process they tried to correct what was labelled false or incorrect information with regard to Mr. Arar. That was the first time it came to my attention that there was a possibility or that we had mislabeled or mischaracterized Mr. Arar in our dealings with him in the investigation," Mr. Zaccardelli said.

He added that the RCMP "never misled Canadian authorities" and that "discussions did take place relative to that between officials in Canada. A number of discussions took place. My officials were involved in those discussions."


quoting RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli
Oct 16th, 2006
[Wayne] Easter, who was Liberal solicitor general from October 2002 to December 2003, told a dramatically different story.

"I was not so informed," he said Tuesday.

He said he had checked all his briefing notes and other documents and consulted with former ministerial aides to be sure what the Mounties told him.

"There was no reference to erroneous information, no reference to false information, nor was there any reference to any corrective efforts having been made by the RCMP."

Easter noted that he met John Ashcroft, then U.S. attorney general, in the summer of 2003 and "basically gave (him) hell" about the way the Americans had handled the Arar case.
If Ashcroft had known the U.S. acted on faulty information supplied by Canada, said Easter, he would have been sure to raise it.
Oct 24th, 2006
There's a sword out there and somebody is going to eventually have to fall on it.

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