Ottawa will announce a multimillion dollar compensation package for Maher Arar on Friday, CTV News has learned.

The package includes personal compensation of more than $10 million, a $2-million payment for Arar’s legal fees, and an official apology, CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported.

“After months of secret negotiations, a dark chapter in Maher Arar’s life is finally coming to a close. CTV News has learned a formal legal settlement has been signed with Mr. Arar and his lawyers,” he said.

In 2002, Arar was deported by the U.S. to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured into making false confessions that he was involved with al Qaeda.

The Ottawa-based engineer was cleared by a judicial inquiry last fall.

Justice Dennis O’Connor concluded that Arar was deported to Syria based on misleading information provided to the U.S. from the RCMP.

It isn’t about money. This is bigger. Will any Canadian officials or Syrians involved be brought to justice?  What good is 10 million dollars when you can’t hop on a plane without worry, or deal with PTSD and depression?  Canada has admitted wrongdoing. There is justice on some level. Whether the average Canadian will be happy with this settlement is not something I know how to answer.

Meantime the rhetoric is going to get racheted up.

“The prime minister, I’m told, is going to come out all guns blazing. He is furious that U.S. ambassador David Wilkins said that Canada had no business telling them to get Mr. Arar off the list,” Fife reported.

“His view is that if it was an American who was falsely accused and put on a watch list, they would move heaven and earth to get them off. … Perhaps he will even offer some legal assistance to Mr. Arar who wants to get his name off the list.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador to Canada blasted Ottawa’s efforts to have Arar removed the list, saying the public safety minister is “presumptuous” if he thinks he has a say in the matter.

David Wilkins said Wednesday that Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day should back down from efforts because an American assessment concluded Arar should remain on the watch list.

“It’s a little presumptuous of him to say who the United States can and cannot allow into our country,” the ambassador told a news conference.

“Canadian officials would rightly never tolerate any American official dictating to them who they may or may not allow into their country.”

And while Patrick Leahy and the judiciary committee gathers their findings - Stephen Harper will offer government legal assistance to go after the US regarding the no-fly issue-slap Ambassador Wilkins on the wrist for the Stockwell Day smackdown.That’s the rumour. We’ll see.

We can’t afford this. The US doesn’t give a damn, frankly and millions more dollars will be poured down a black hole for someone Canadians have determined is innocent.
The US government is not going to agree with Canada, they can’t lose face.

If Leahy says Justice is correct, and Canada is trying to get the US to let in their terrorists, then that will be a reason for them to verbally attack. It would lend support to Canada’s supposed reputation of being weak on terrorism and weak on border control and therefore a continued liability of the US, right, wrong, or indifferent.

Innocence and apology will be part of the goes on tomorrow, but it won’t be the story.

MacLeans Magazine
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