Michael Byers on Politics

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.

Arctic sovereignty: Another threat runs silent and deep

Michael Byers, Globe and Mail, March 5, 2009

Russian bombers in international airspace are mostly a distraction. A greater threat to Canadian sovereignty runs silent and deep, in the form of a U.S. submarine that might sail the Northwest Passage this week. ...

For the full text, see: Arctic sovereignty: Another threat

For the LA Times report, see: Arctic bound submarine

For a follow-up CBC story, see: Canada-US