Michael Byers on Politics

I'm an academic, author, human rights advocate and environmental activist. I'm also a husband (to Katharine) and father to two impossibly energetic and stubborn young boys. For more on me, please visit the "About" section at the top left-hand corner of this page. For my views on politics, both national and international, please see below!

Courts blocking Tories on security

Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service, June 15, 2009

The Conservative government's national security agenda has been set back by a steady losing streak in the Federal Court, a trend that analysts attribute to an emboldened bench that is finding its voice and growing out of a tendency to defer to lawmakers as it did in the early years after 9/11.

In the past two months, the traditionally cautious court has issued stinging decisions ordering the government to repatriate terror suspect Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay and bring Canadian Abousfian Abdelrazik home from Sudan.

Judges have also issued three biting critiques of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, accusing the spy agency of possibly lying to the court about its intelligence information and being complicit in torture of Canadians abroad.

"It's the end of the honeymoon period -- when national security trumped everything," said Michael Byers, a civil libertarian and a political scientist at University of British Columbia. "Judges are now fighting back." ...

For the full text, see: Courts blocking Tories

Thinning ice already increasing traffic in Northwest Passage

Ottawa not doing enough to ensure Canadians control commercial shipping there, experts say

Bob Weber, Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, June 15, 2009

The thinning Arctic ice pack is already producing the much-anticipated surge in commercial shipping through the Northwest Passage.

And as the pace of ice loss accelerates, experts say the federal government is not keeping up to ensure Canadians control it.

Wanted: mid-sized icebreakers, long-range choppers, perspective

Instead of militarizing the Arctic at great cost and little effect, Canada should build on its strengths - and co-operate

Michael Byers, Globe & Mail, June 11, 2009

he North Pole is closer to Paris than it is to Ottawa. Russia's northernmost Arctic island is more than 1,500 kilometres from Alert, Nunavut.

Providing security in Canada's Arctic requires a sense of perspective - and a willingness to co-operate. The most significant security threats are found along the Arctic's southern fringes and involve non-state actors, such as drug smugglers, not other nation-states.

Court rulings blow to CSIS credibility, say experts

Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service, May 28, 2009

OTTAWA -- A court ruling lambasting CSIS for concealing vital information in a case against an Ottawa terror suspect is the latest sign that the spy agency's credibility is on the line and that greater oversight is needed to ensure better accountability, say national security experts.

The Federal Court ruling, which calls into question the security-certificate case against Mohamed Harkat, is one of three in the last year that have come down hard on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for its actions in investigating terrorism allegations.

Mr. Harkat, an Algerian, is one of five non-Canadians whom the government has targeted with security certificates and seeks to deport on suspicion of having terrorist links.

Security analysts predicted that judges will more closely scrutinize CSIS following revelations that officials may have intentionally failed to disclose information about the reliability of an intelligence source against Mr. Harkat.

Michaëlle Jean and the Seal

Letter to the Editor, Globe and Mail, May 28, 2009

Having enjoyed a community feast at Rankin Inlet, I understand how easily one can be caught up in the occasion. Seal hunting is indeed essential to Inuit culture and sustenance. But by turning millions of European stomachs, Michaëlle Jean did not help the cause - and may have cost Canada's tourism and export industries. She should have left the matter with the World Trade Organization, and opted for the caribou stew.

Michael Byers, Vancouver

Dear Grads, Help Save Us!

Armed with an Arts degree, you can be a hero.

Michael Byers, May 27, 2009,TheTyee.ca

In medieval England, before the development of written land registries, local children were conscripted as witnesses to real estate transactions. At the exact moment that a piece of turf was symbolically handed from seller to buyer, the kids were whacked on the side of the head. By making the transfer of land memorable, the assault provided security of title for as long as the children lived. ...

For the full text, see: Grads Save Us

Man in terror trial sentenced to 2.5 years

Scarborough man to be released today based on credit for time served before trial

Isabel Teotonio, Toronto Star, May 22, 2009

A man sentenced to 2-1/2 years in a homegrown terror trial, will be released from custody today.

The 21-year-old Scarborough man will walk out of court later today a free man because of credit given for time served in pre-trial custody.

Superior Court Justice John Sproat said that in making his decision, he considered "the genuine remorse expressed by (the accused) and his stated commitment to leading a peaceful life." ...

For the full text, see: Man sentenced

Seabed claims mount, swamping U.N. commission

Nathanial Gronewold, New York Times, May 14, 2009

UNITED NATIONS -- The biggest land grab since colonial times is accelerating as nations scramble to claim writ over hundreds of thousands of square miles of ocean floor, much of it believed to be rich in natural resources.

Yesterday marked the 10-year deadline for most countries filing claims over extended seabeds with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), a panel created under the U.N. Law of the Sea treaty to review and certify the legitimacy of claims.

Thaw may be underway in Ottawa-Moscow Arctic issues

Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service, May 12, 2009

Ottawa's stated outrage over a Feb. 18 Arctic flight by two Russian bombers — a response dismissed by Moscow as "bizarre" given the "routine" nature of the training exercise — appears even more puzzling now that details have emerged about a friendly, Feb. 20 meeting in Moscow in which top Canadian and Russian officials contemplated unprecedented levels of co-operation between the two countries on key Arctic issues.

The two sides, according to a leaked summary of talks on the "legal status of the Arctic," noted "a high degree of similarity in their positions on the issue of international shipping in the Northwest Passage (Canada) and the Northern Sea Route (Russia)" — hinting at an allied Canadian-Russian stance against the U.S. on one of the thorniest issues in Canada-U.S. relations.

Hamas lawmaker, anti-gay activist make it on U.K.'s banned list

Giuseppe Valiante, National Post, May 6, 2009

Britain has blacklisted 22 people from entering the country, accusing them of fomenting hatred, glorifying terrorism or being capable of inciting ethnic violence in the country.

A list of 16 of the people was published yesterday to "name and shame" them, according to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

Show us what lies on the Arctic seabed

Michael Byers and Ron Macnab, Ottawa Citizen, May 1, 2009

The two big red ships sailed in tandem through the Arctic Ocean, the first breaking the ice so that the second could use its sensitive seismic equipment to map the sediments of the seabed.

The ships then switched position when the noise produced in particularly thick ice interfered with the seismic equipment. This allowed state-of-the-art sonar equipment on the first ship to be used to map the ridges and valleys of the ocean floor, while the second ship took over the still all-important task of breaking the ice.

Last summer’s partnership between Canada’s Louis S. St. Laurent and the United States’ Healy was a showcase for scientific co-operation — but only up to a point.

Rich nations helping former colonies with seabed claims

Nathanial Gronewold, New York Times, May 1, 2009

UNITED NATIONS -- Developing countries trying to claim new undersea territory via a U.N. commission are getting assistance from former colonial overlords or other wealthier nations.

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) -- 21 geographers and hydrographers drawn from governments and the petroleum industry -- has seen its workload double since late last year, with new seabed claims arriving almost every week -- with most applications coming from developing countries.

Ottawa's piracy policy flouts law, experts say

Government claims of a lack of jurisdiction called 'ludicrous' and 'quite wrong'

Paul Koring, Globe and Mail, May 1, 2009

WASHINGTON -- Canada's catch-and-release approach to countering piracy off Somalia is at odds with other Western navies and flouts Ottawa's obligations under international law, according to maritime and international law experts.

"Its ludicrous for the Harper government to claim that it can't arrest and prosecute pirates," said Michael Byers, who holds the Canadian Research Chair in International Law and Politics at the University of British Columbia. "Canada has a legal obligation under the United Nations and international law to bring pirates to justice."

Why are we setting pirates free?

The U.S. is arresting pirates, but Canada is cutting them loose

Philippe Gohier, Macleans Magazine, April 30, 2008

Late Saturday, a Canadian warship escorting a shipment of aid through the Gulf of Aden crossed paths with Somali pirates attacking a Norwegian oil tanker. After a seven-hour nighttime chase, which included warning shots fired at the pirates’ skiff, the crew of the HMCS Winnipeg caught up with the pirates, seized a single rocket-propelled grenade from their vessel, and took seven of them prisoner. But there was an anticlimactic end to the Canadian sailors’ hard-won victory: they were told to send the pirates home, releasing them unconditionally.

Crackdown on weapons smuggling could help B.C. war on drugs

Lena Sin, CanWest News Service, April 19, 2009

VANCOUVER - U.S. President Barack Obama's push to crack down on weapons smuggling is an encouraging move that could help British Columbia's war on drugs, according to a political science professor. But others aren't so sure and say Obama's announcement is nothing more than ``smoke and mirrors.''

Citizens go hungry for the homeless

Jane Armstrong, Globe and Mail, March 30, 2009

VANCOUVER -- By the sixth day of his week-long hunger strike, Jason Gratl was fixated on food, obsessing about fried potatoes, bacon and eggs.

A few days earlier, he had to halt the law class he was teaching at the University of British Columbia because he was too weak to carry on.

Seven days on a self-imposed fruit-juice diet taught Mr. Gratl, 34, a lot about food, deprivation and the mental exhaustion of chronic hunger.

"I was incapacitated," said Mr. Gratl, vice-president of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, of his final day of fasting. "I had no concentration. I was wandering around in a stupor ... obsessing about food."

Obama's Challenge to Canada

Who's Obama proving to be? A president who sees Canada as a global game changer.

Michael Byers, TheTyee.ca , March 19, 2009

"I love this country," Barack Obama professed during his recent visit to Ottawa. The comment might be interpreted as a gentle rebuke to Stephen Harper who, when asked whether he loved Canada in 2005, hesitated, pursed his lips and replied, "Canada is a great country."

More likely, it was a straightforward expression of affection rooted in President Obama's family connections to this country as well his awareness of its historically important role -- as the terminus of the underground railway; as a deciding factor in two world wars; as a long-time proponent of human rights, international law and multilateral diplomacy; and as a model of successfully multicultural, social welfare state.

Most importantly, the comment also suggests an awareness of just how important Canada could be to achieving the new president's economic, environmental and foreign policy goals. ...

For the full article, see: http://thetyee.ca/Views/2009/03/19/ObamaChallenge/

The Push to Arrest Bush

When former president hits Calgary, some want him nabbed for war crimes.

Garrett Zehr, TheTyee.ca , March 17, 2009

As with previous visits to Canada, George W. Bush will be greeted in Calgary today with protests and calls for his arrest and prosecution for war crimes.

But one key difference separates this from past visits -- he now lacks diplomatic immunity....

With that protection now aside, legal experts argue the possibility exists for Canada to prosecute Bush under the principle of universal jurisdiction, similar to what was used to arrest and indict former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in Britain.

"There certainly is jurisdiction under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act," said Michael Byers, UBC law professor and the Canadian Research Chair in International Law and Politics.

The act, passed in 2000, allows the Canadian government to charge someone for war crimes even if the accused is a foreign citizen and the crimes took place abroad.

"It's absolutely cutting-edge legislation," Byers said. "It's probably the best and most wide-reaching legislation in the world and we can be proud of it. The only thing we can't be proud of is our reluctance to implement it." ...

Enacting the legislation requires the consent of the federal government, throwing the probability of a prosecution of Bush in serious doubt.

"It's difficult to conceive of the Harper government allowing an arrest of a former U.S. president," Byers said. "This is a government that won't even request the repatriation of Omar Khadr," he said, referring to the Canadian citizen who has spent the last six years held at Guantanamo Bay on the accusation of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15.

While Byers said he favours a criminal investigation into Bush's alleged crimes, he is not supporting calls for a Canadian prosecution at this time.

"We don't yet know what decision Barack Obama will make concerning a prosecution in the U.S.," he said. "My view at the moment is we should wait to see where the Obama administration is going. The government of nationality should be given the first opportunity to do so." ...

For the full article, see: Push to Arrest Bush

Canadian legal system works: Experts

Joanne Chianello, Ottawa Citizen, March 12, 2009

OTTAWA — The precedent-setting case against Momin Khawaja proves the Canadian legal system can deal with terrorists without more aggressive anti-terrorism laws, according to legal and global intelligence experts.

In the same week that the Ontario Superior Court sentenced the first person successfully charged under Canada's eight-year-old anti-terrorism legislation, the Conservative government is planning to re-introduce two highly controversial clauses associated with that legislation.

The contentious clauses — which "expired" in 2007 — give police temporary powers of preventive arrest, and the ability to compel witnesses to testify at closed hearings in front of judges. Although the powers have never been used, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson gave Parliament notice his government plans to restore them.

In the wake of the Khawaja conviction and Thursday's sentencing, experts want to know why.

"Instead of having secret prisons and courts making use of secret evidence, here we have a trial in open court where the perpetrator is sentenced to a minimum sentence of 10 years hard time," said Michael Byers, a law professor at University of British Columbia.

"It's a balanced, reasonable, yet weighty outcome — one that shows that our legal system, with all of its checks and balances, can deal responsibly and effectively with terrorism.

"And that's really important, because there are those who want to take terrorism out of our legal system."

Cannon urges co-operation in changing Arctic

Canadian Press, March 11, 2009

WHITEHORSE - The Conservative government is stressing international co-operation to tackle circumpolar issues after three years of bristling assertions of Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic.

In a speech on the international dimension of Canada's northern strategy, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Wednesday that Canada wants a renewed focus on the role and importance of the eight-nation Arctic Council.