The controversy behind the Canadian banning of outspoken British anti-war MP George Galloway is set to deepen, with potentially damaging implications for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney, and others; and with possible repercussions for the government’s use of national security claims for withholding information from the public.

rabble.ca has reviewed publicly accessible Federal Court documents that outline a short but intense campaign on the part of Kenney’s office and government officials to keep Galloway out of Canada, and the lengths they were willing to go to do so.

The documents number more than two hundred pages and include emails, memos, government letters, articles, and court files. Sixty six pages of documents of particular importance were mistakenly released to Galloway’s legal team, and the Canadian government legal team requested their return – unopened and unread – for redaction on grounds of national security. With some minor exceptions, a federal judge declined their claim.

In articles written by news and feature editor Cathryn Atkinson, and published on April 19 and April 20th, rabble.ca explores questions these documents raise including: Why did the government want to redact these pages so badly that they made a claim of national security? How was the Prime Minister’s office, who were included in email exchanges, involved? Did Minister Kenny’s office directly interfere with the work of civil servants in Ottawa and London in the case – with or without the Prime Minister’s blessing? Who leaked the news of the banning to the British media before Galloway himself was informed, potentially violating Canada’s Privacy Act?

Part 1 Court documents put spotlight on minister in banning of British MP

Part 2 National security claim rejected by judge in bid to redact Galloway emails
 
Recognizing that there are more questions to be asked, and that Canadians deserve to see the original documents, rabble.ca has made copies of the Federal Court documents available below, and embedded in the stories and invite crowd-sourcing for further angles to this story.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/CourtTribunalRecord.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Orr%20Cross%20Examination.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Sauve%20Cross%20Examination.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Judge%20Mosley%20Order%20%28info%20to%20be%20redacted%20blacked%20out%20by%20rabble%29-1.pdf
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Judge%20Mosley%20Order%20%28info%20to%20be%20redacted%20blacked%20out%20by%20rabble%29-2.pdf
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Judge%20Mosley%20Order%20%28info%20to%20be%20redacted%20blacked%20out%20by%20rabble%29-3.pdf
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/CCLA%20A.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/CCLA%20A.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/CCLA%20C.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/CCLA%20C.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20A.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20B.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20C.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20D.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20E.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20F.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20G.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20H.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Court%20Docs%20I.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Sauve%20Cross%20Examination.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Redaction%20Request%20B.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Redaction%20Request%20B.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Redaction%20Request%20E.PDF
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6318311/Redaction%20Request%20F.PDF

kim

Kim Elliott

Kim Elliott operated as publisher for rabble.ca between 2006-2023.