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His punishment? He was "let go," with $22 million, including $10 million in various incentive plans.
Maybe unionist could ask Mr. Lederer to explain "What would any normal person do with all that cash?" I'm sure he'll have lots of ideas.
And he didn't even have to get tortured by the Syrians to get it.
Though they did say Harper says this opens up the ability now for all others tortured to receive compensation too.
When your pulse stops racing, why not address some of the serious questions I posed in my opening posts? Oh, and can you name the other Canadians we've helped send for torture, or is that thread drift?
I don't like the public focus on compensation in the absence of a meaningful apology and punishment of the guilty.
Even had Arar won the $400 million which he initially claimed in his lawsuit (before revising it to $37 million), I would not have felt that justice was even more shiningly done. Do you think giving him $400 million would have been better than the $10.5 million?
Apologies, even "meaningful" ones, aren't worth anything to anyone but the victim.
Oh all right, I don't mean "apologies" - I mean the Canadian government pleading guilty to what its agents have done and then making things right. That's what I meant by an "apology". Not "I'm sorry if I did anything wrong, Maher, and I'll mention Monia by name too, oh, I'm deeply sorry if anyone working for this government did anything wrong..."
Actually, I have a hard time understanding why this "apology" was meaningful to Arar. It neither says, "You were innocent of wrongdoing", nor does it say "We were guilty of wrongdoing". Have you actually read that disgusting statement?
It was obviously easier to negotiate $10.5 million than it was to get a clear statement of Arar's innocence and the state's guilt.
He seems to be delighted with the apology, such as it was. He was also delighted with the insincere apology he got from Zaccardelli, before the latter resigned.
I just find it difficult to criticize the guy for not being more demanding. After what he went through I think he's earned the right to decide how much compensation is enough for him, and how far he's willing to water his wine.
One possible explanation for Arar's apparent magnaminity might be because if he reacted like I would think I would react would just confirm in people's heads that he was a violent maniac after all, and the RCMP might have been right, or at least partially right.
More likely, I think, is that people who have been victimized like this, and in particular victims or torture seem to emerge from the other side with different priorities, different perspectives.
We don't have that experience, and I think maybe we have something to learn.
"I wish I could buy my life back"
Why Maher Arar wants off the no-fly list:
- Globe and Mail (no longer available free online)
I thought he couldn't use U.S. airspace. His lawyer says something different. Now it's about not being able to visit some unnamed countries which blindly obey the U.S. watch list? Which countries are those? Do they include Syria? Obviously Canada is not on that list - or are we, with the sole exception of Maher Arar?
This story continues to have an exotic fragrance. I would expect nothing less from a story where Stephen Harper is the hero.
This is awesome.
Perhaps part of it was a defamation suit, seeing as how the government of the day falsely proclaimed that Arar was a terrorist, and put his family on a no-fly list. Remember this: Mulrooney got $30 million as an award for 'allegedly' stealing from Canadians on the Airbus scandal, after the RCMP couldn't prove the charges against him.
That really puts this settlement in perspective. I really wish Arar had got the $37 million, which in itself was much less than the original $400 mil.
While the source is CanadaFreePress, the article makes a good point on why Harper used "may" in the apology.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/cover012907.htm
Aside from negotiating the deal, they also had to prepare for the lawsuit itself -- no small task, I'm sure.
But more than that, his lawyers had to represent him throughout the inquiry, and I suspect that might be the largest portion of the legal fees at issue.
A condo in Vancouver sold for $10,000,000. A million ain't worth what it used to.
I would be astounded if his torture had not caused him to suffer from PTSD and that is highly likely to hinder his ability to work as a professional. What he hasn't revealed to the public is his personal medical information. So we should just assume he has suffered no ill effects? Do you think he has a duty to tell us the most intimate details of his ongoing recurring nightmares, possible sexual disfuntion, anger problems etc etc. (the list of possible effects from PTSD is a long one)
Have some compassion
Read my opening post. I said: "I think that's a bit excessive, yet not enough." If this is a story of one individual who was horribly abused, then it really doesn't interest me any more than the stories of so many other individuals. The importance of this story is what we, as a country and people, are going to do to rectify the situation. And that has very little to do with handing over a sum of money to Maher Arar.
Sorry if that appears to lack compassion. I asked babblers to name the others in Arar's same situation, and no one stepped forward. We are unfortunately the slaves of headlines and of the moment.
ETA: Strange that you, like others, want to focus on my comments about the quantum. Re-read the opening post. Are these questions not more important?
[ 29 January 2007: Message edited by: unionist ]
Why not $1 billion?
1. Because the Canadian taxpayer, by and large, are assholes who don't really care that their aristocracy is above the law and out of control. What would any normal person do with all that cash? Pay the legal fees, for one, and the money left over might keep you in orthopedic shoes you need for the rest of your life after having the bottoms of your feet beaten.
2. No one has been punished because the wrongdoers are protected by the above stated assholes.
3. Because it's Canada. See 1 and 2 above.
Now, I suppose you and I would like to errect a guillotine outside the Peace Tower and clean house, but what about the other 29 million odd assholes?
FOS
"Fee of silence"? I hope you're wrong, but the evidence is mounting and you may be right...