10-22-2001, 04:23 PM
In British Columbia, Canada, we have a fellow who is being sought by the U.S. government for possible links to the terrorist activities. The U.S. is seeking to have him extradited. After being detained he applied for bail. At the bail hearing the judge ordered that the person be granted bail because the U.S. authorities have not provided evidence to support extradition.
Our Premier (equivalent of a state govenor) has said that the decision to grant bail was "wrong" and "will do nothing to increase the public's confidence in these types of decisions". He said that the court "should have detained him until his extradition hearing."
I think the comments by our Premier are disgraceful. A politician who was not at the hearing (he was in Toronto at the time) and likely has not heard any of the evidence is saying that the judge (who heard and saw all the evidence) made a wrong decision.
I think this is another example of politicians trying to curtail fundamental freedoms because of the fear of the terrorism. The biggest fear I have is that our society will routinely disregard people's fundamental rights for convenience reasons. M's post about torture is scary when you read some of the posts which supported it. In Canada, the Liberal government has brought forward a bill which defines terrorism so broadly that striking nurses would fall under its definition.
I bet most citizens of British Columbia probably agree with what the Premier says, however, that still doesn't make it right. That is why we have fundamental freedoms... so they are not subject to the whims of the majority.
Our Premier (equivalent of a state govenor) has said that the decision to grant bail was "wrong" and "will do nothing to increase the public's confidence in these types of decisions". He said that the court "should have detained him until his extradition hearing."
I think the comments by our Premier are disgraceful. A politician who was not at the hearing (he was in Toronto at the time) and likely has not heard any of the evidence is saying that the judge (who heard and saw all the evidence) made a wrong decision.
I think this is another example of politicians trying to curtail fundamental freedoms because of the fear of the terrorism. The biggest fear I have is that our society will routinely disregard people's fundamental rights for convenience reasons. M's post about torture is scary when you read some of the posts which supported it. In Canada, the Liberal government has brought forward a bill which defines terrorism so broadly that striking nurses would fall under its definition.
I bet most citizens of British Columbia probably agree with what the Premier says, however, that still doesn't make it right. That is why we have fundamental freedoms... so they are not subject to the whims of the majority.