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Canada: Maher Arar

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Commission d’enquête Commission of Inquiry into sur les actions des the Actions of Canadian responsables canadiens Officials in Relation to relativement à Maher Arar Maher Arar Audience publique Public Hearing L’Honorable juge / Commissaire The Honourable Justice Commissioner Dennis R. O’Connor Tenue à: Held at: Salon Algonquin Algonquin Room Ancien hôtel de ville Old City Hall 111, Promenade Sussex 111 Sussex Drive Ottawa (Ontario) Ottawa, Ontario le jeudi 9 juin 2005 Thursday, June 9, 2005 - ii - APPEARANCES / COMPARUTIONS Mr. Paul Cavalluzzo Commission Counsel Me Marc David Mr. Brian Gover Ms Veena Verma Ms Adela Mall Mr. Ronald G. Atkey Amicus Curiae Mr. Lorne Waldman Counsel for Maher Arar Ms Marlys Edwardh Ms Breese Davies Ms Brena Parnes Ms Barbara A. McIsaac, Q.C. Attorney General of Canada Mr. Colin Baxter Mr. Simon Fothergill Mr. Gregory S. Tzemenakis Ms Helen J. Gray Ms Lori Sterling Ministry of the Attorney General/ Mr. Darrell Kloeze Ontario Provincial Police Ms Leslie McIntosh Mr. Faisal Joseph Canadian Islamic Congress Ms Marie Henein National Council on Canada-Arab Mr. Hussein Amery Relations Mr. Steven Shrybman Canadian Labour Congress/Council of Canadians and the Polaris Institute Mr. Emelio Binavince Minority Advocacy and Rights Council Mr. Joe Arvay The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association - iii - APPEARANCES / COMPARUTIONS Mr. Kevin Woodall The International Commission for Jurists, The Redress Trust, The Association for the Prevention of Torture, World Organization Against Torture Colonel Me Michel W. Drapeau The Muslim Community Council of Ottawa-Gatineau Mr. David Matas International Campaign Against Torture Ms Barbara Olshansky Centre for Constitutional Rights Mr. Riad Saloojee Canadian Council on Mr. Khalid Baksh American-Islamic Relations Mr. Mel Green Canadian Arab Federation Ms Amina Sherazee Muslim Canadian Congress Ms Sylvie Roussel Counsel for Maureen Girvan Ms Catherine Beagan Flood Counsel for the Parliamentary Clerk - iv - TABLE OF CONTENTS / TABLE DES MATIÈRES Page SWORN: Reem Bahdi 6111 SWORN: Sheema Khan SWORN: Rachad Antonius Examination by Mr. Gover 6111 Examination by Mr. Cavalluzzo 6165 Examination by Mr. Gover 6211 Examination by Mr. Waldman 6232 Examination by Mr. Joseph 6261 Examination by Mr. Allmand 6277 Examination by Mr. Saloojee 6285 Examination by Mr. Fothergill 6290 Examination by Mr. Gover 6352 Examination by Mr. Joseph 6358 - v - LIST OF EXHIBITS / PIÈCES JUSTICATIVES No. Description Page P-129 Two binders of documents entitled “Reference 6112 Materials Compiled in Relation to the Evidence of Dr. Sheema Khan, Professor Rachad Antonius and Professor Reem Bahdi” P-130 Binder of training and outreach initiatives being 6332 promoted by federal government 6109 1 Ottawa, Ontario / Ottawa (Ontario) 2 --- Upon commencing on Thursday, June 9, 2005 3 at 9:40 a.m. / L'audience débute le jeudi 4 9 juin 2005 à 9 h 40 5 THE REGISTRAR: Please be seated. 6 Veuillez vous asseoir. 7 THE COMMISSIONER: Good morning. 8 MR. GOVER: Good morning, 9 Commissioner. 10 You will recall that Monday 11 morning, when I introduced the plan for this week, 12 I indicated that this morning we would be hearing 13 evidence as part of the context for the inquiry 14 from three individuals, and they are present now. 15 Before you swear them, I will 16 indicate who they are and the purpose for their 17 evidence. 18 They are, first, at my immediate 19 left, Professor Reem Bahdi, who teaches law at the 20 University of Windsor Faculty of Law. 21 In the middle, Dr. Sheema Khan, 22 and she is Chair of the Board of Directors of 23 CAIR-CAN, and in addition writes frequently, and I 24 will be reviewing the publications that Dr. Khan 25 has contributed to the understanding of the StenoTran 6110 1 community's experience. 2 Also, on my right, and closest to 3 you, Commissioner, is Professor Rachad Antonius, 4 and he is a professor in the Department of 5 Sociology at the University of Quebec in Montreal. 6 He, in addition to being a sociologist who brings 7 to bear his perspective as such, and his academic 8 study of the community in this respect, also 9 comments in the popular media, and I will be 10 referring to some of his work in that respect. 11 Commissioner, today's evidence, as 12 I have said, is contextual evidence and functions 13 as a bridge between the factual inquiry aspect of 14 your mandate and the policy review. 15 And perhaps with that short 16 introduction, I would ask that the witnesses be 17 sworn. 18 I will then, Commissioner, be 19 asking you to qualify them as expert witnesses in 20 relation to the impact of the events of September 21 11, 2001, and the aftermath of those events, as 22 perceived by Canada's Muslim and Arab communities. 23 THE COMMISSIONER: All right. 24 Professor Bahdi, would you like to 25 declare on the Qur'an? StenoTran 6111 1 PROF. BAHDI: No, thank you. 2 THE COMMISSIONER: Would you like 3 to be sworn on the Bible? 4 MR. BAHDI: Yes, please. 5 THE COMMISSIONER: Would you stand 6 and take the Bible in your right hand. 7 SWORN: REEM BAHDI 8 THE COMMISSIONER: Dr. Khan, what 9 would your preference be? 10 DR. KHAN: On the Qur'an, please. 11 THE COMMISSIONER: Would you stand 12 and take the Qur'an and repeat after me. 13 SWORN: SHEEMA KHAN 14 THE COMMISSIONER: And Professor 15 Antonius, what is your preference? 16 MR. ANTONIUS: I will swear on the 17 Bible. 18 THE COMMISSIONER: Would you stand 19 and take the Bible in your right hand. 20 SWORN: RACHAD ANTONIUS 21 THE COMMISSIONER: Thank you. You 22 may be seated. 23 EXAMINATION 24 MR. GOVER: I turn initially to 25 you, Dr. Khan, in connection with your StenoTran 6112 1 qualifications and also to introduce you in 2 greater detail to those present today. 3 First of all, by way of 4 educational background, you acquired a Bachelor of 5 Science degree in chemistry in 1983 from McGill 6 University. 7 Is that correct? 8 MS KHAN: That is correct. 9 MR. GOVER: I am referring now to 10 what I ought to have marked as the next exhibit, 11 Commissioner, the reference materials compiled in 12 relation to the evidence of Dr. Sheema Khan, 13 Professor Rachad Antonius and Professor Reem 14 Bahdi. This is a two-volume set. 15 Might that be marked as the next 16 exhibit? 17 THE COMMISSIONER: It will be 18 P-129. 19 EXHIBIT NO. P-129: Two 20 binders of documents entitled 21 "Reference Materials Compiled 22 in Relation to the Evidence 23 of Dr. Sheema Khan, Professor 24 Rachad Antonius and Professor 25 Reem Bahdi" StenoTran 6113 1 MR. GOVER: Dr. Khan, by reference 2 to your curriculum vitae which appears at tab 1 of 3 Exhibit P-129, after receiving your Bachelor of 4 Science degree in chemistry from McGill 5 University, you then achieved a Master's degree in 6 physics and a Ph.D. in chemical physics, both from 7 Harvard University. 8 Is that correct? 9 MS KHAN: That is correct. 10 MR. GOVER: You acquired your 11 Ph.D. in 1989. Is that right? 12 MS KHAN: That is correct. 13 MR. GOVER: By way of profession, 14 I understand that you are a registered trade agent 15 with both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and 16 the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. 17 Is that correct? 18 MS KHAN: That is correct. 19 MR. GOVER: You work as a patent 20 professional, specific as a patent agent and 21 technical consultant at Smart & Biggar 22 Fetherstonaugh here in Ottawa. 23 Is that right? 24 MS KHAN: That is correct. 25 MR. GOVER: And I understand that StenoTran 6114 1 in addition to your work as a patent agent, you 2 actually hold two U.S. patents. 3 Is that right? 4 MS KHAN: That is correct. 5 MR. GOVER: And you have patents 6 pending in Europe and in Canada at the present 7 time. 8 MS KHAN: Correct. 9 MR. GOVER: Turning to your 10 community activity, you have been the Chair of the 11 board of CAIR-CAN since 2000. 12 Is that right? 13 MS KHAN: Yes, that is right. 14 MR. GOVER: Can you briefly tell 15 us what CAIR-CAN is. 16 MS KHAN: CAIR-CAN is an acronym 17 for the Canadian Council on American Islamic 18 Relations. It is a grassroots advocacy 19 organization for the Muslim community. 20 We have a threefold set of 21 activities: one is education of the Muslim 22 community regarding Canadian institutions of 23 media, and more so now in politics; another is to 24 educate the wider Canadian community through media 25 articles; and the third is interfaith dialogue. StenoTran 6115 1 MR. GOVER: Now, in addition, 2 since 2004 you have been a member of the board of 3 the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. 4 Is that right? 5 MS KHAN: That is correct. 6 MR. GOVER: And previously you 7 were a board member of CAIR. Is that right? 8 MS KHAN: That is correct. 9 MR. GOVER: That was in 2001 and 10 2002? 11 MS KHAN: Correct. 12 MR. GOVER: We appreciate that you 13 are the board chair of CAIR-CAN. Can you tell us 14 what CAIR is and what your work as a board member 15 of CAIR was. 16 MS KHAN: CAIR is the Council of 17 American Islamic Relations based in Washington, 18 D.C. It began in 1995, about ten years ago.
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