My letter to the "Honourable" Lawrence Cannon

Minister:

Last Friday afternoon's news that yet another condition has been placed upon our fellow-citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik before he can return home to his family was frankly sick-making.

The latest condition is impossible to fulfil. How does a destitute man stuck in Khartoum begin to thread his way through the many layers of UN bureaucracy? In less than a week? Effectively, then, you have condemned a citizen, without trial, to a penalty that doesn't even exist in Canadian law--marooning.

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" That was the question that Joseph Welch asked Senator Joe McCarthy when the latter was busy crucifying a young lawyer. You will recognize the context. I suggest, sir, that the same questions might appropriately be asked of you now.

What is abundantly obvious here, given the tender treatment that your government afforded Brenda Martin, is that this decision is motivated by an unwholesome mixture of Islamophobia and racial prejudice. How dare you treat a Canadian citizen in this fashion? Have you entirely abandoned the notion of the rule of law in Canada?

Your cat-and-mouse game with this man, in fact, is nothing short of sadistic. Be assured, sir, that I, and countless other Canadians who still remember what the word "Canadian" means, will be motivated by this shameful treatment of a fellow-citizen to ensure that your government will never, ever, achieve a Parliamentary majority.

You have underestimated us, Minister. Most Canadians are not positively swayed by your government's appeals to prejudice and hatred. We're better than that. And when the next election comes, you shall know it.

Sincerely,