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|Monday April 19, 2004 |
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COtler:
"Justice will prevail"
Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler entered politics "by accident." That's
right. The rookie minister who in his private career gained worldwide
respect as an international human rights lawyer says he's happy just the
same being federal politician today, but also looks forward to returning to
human rights activism after federal politics.
Mr. Cotler (Mount Royal, Que.) who last week helped reopen the Jewish
elementary school in Montreal, United Talmud Torah ‹ a school he attended as
a child ‹ after it was firebombed on April 5, told The Hill Times in a
wide-ranging interview that hate crimes are on the rise around the world.
But he said, "there is an unequivocal condemnation of this racist hate from
all sectors of the society."
Minister Cotler, after being involved internationally, don't you feel
a bit confined working only within Canadian borders?
"I loved what I was doing before I came to Parliament and I was also defined
by who I was. My view was that Parliament would be a forum that might help
to give expression to the human rights voice. In fact, in 1999 I ran on a
human rights platform. I recall when I was 12 years old and my father took
me to Ottawa, to the Parliament Buildings, he looked at the House of Commons
and told me, ŒSon, this is the voice of the people.' I took it seriously.
Now, if I say that now to my son he would look at me skeptically, if not
cynically. I took it seriously."
How did you enter politics?
"It was by accident. I was a law professor and I loved what I was doing. In
August 1999 the Member representing this riding, Sheila Finestone, was
appointed to the Senate. I was asked if I was interested and my answer was
no. In fact, I went overseas to lecture, and in September, coming back I
learned three things: first, they had already three nominees for the Liberal
nomination, second, the deadline for the nomination was five days away; and
third, a kind of grassroots movement had developed to get me to run. I
resisted because I was happy with what I was doing. Just before the deadline
for the nomination, a person come up to me to persuade me to run. I also was
informed that the other three candidates were announcing in a press
conference to pull out supporting my candidacy. Before I knew it, I was the
only one left and I was nominated without saying or doing anything."
Do you regret it?
"No, I do not. Initially, however, I thought I'd only go to Ottawa for two
years, a kind of an extended sabbatical. Then I said, ŒOkay, I'll go for one
mandate.' I am essentially a human rights person and someday I want to go
back teaching."
Do you feel some limits to your activities now that you are in the House?
"There are, of course, some constitutional limits. Not so much when I was
Member of the Parliament, which was almost an extension of my work I was
doing before [I became] a minister. As an MP, I had an opportunity to work
still on behalf of a political prisoner, like the [Maher] Arar case."
What is the main principle guiding your new job?
"My overriding principle was the pursuit of the justice. I've inherited two
hot potatoes from the previous administration, the marijuana legislation and
the same sex legislation, and three other important initiatives: child
protection legislation, the capital market fraud legislation, a version of
the Enron legislation here, in terms of corporate accountability. Also, we
have three initiatives we have developed while I've been there: the drug
impaired driving legislation and amendments regarding mentally disabled
criminally accused and a set of initiatives with regard to trafficking
women."
Tell us about what the future holds for your ministry.
"Together with what I have been thinking before I became justice minister, I
have developed five main principles around which my five priorities have
developed and, each of them has a domestic and international dimension. The
first is the protection of the security and human rights of Canadians,
particularly from trans-national threats such as terrorism. There is an
international dimension to this because the terrorism threat is
transnational. Canada, to our credit, is among few countries in the world
that has ratified 12 anti-terrorism specific conventions, which allows us to
be a leader in what I call the juridical response to terrorism. This is
where we can make the most appropriate and effective intervention by
developing a model of anti-terrorism legislation domestically and by
promoting the use of the law with regard to fighting terrorism
internationally."
When do you expect this to happen?
"I expect to have this done now. This fall there is going to be the review
of our anti-terrorism law and policy."
Talking about terrorism, do you think we have done enough to defeat
terrorism?
"I know of some criticism from both sides. I think it is important to point
out that we have a very comprehensive anti-terrorism law and policies from a
juridical point of view. We may have not been involved militarily against
terrorism in a way some others like. I think there a different ways a
country can make a contribution to this struggle against terrorism. I have
to believe that the most compelling ways in which we can do it, can be in
terms of a juridical response to terrorism by creating a model of what an
anti-terrorism law and policy can be, comport to human rights and our chart
of Rights and Freedom at the same time. I think we have to assure that our
anti-terrorism law and policy comports with our values without singling out
any group for differential discriminatory treatment. If we can have the
principles of human rights underpinning both the anti-terrorism law and
policy underpinning how we enforce and apply that law, I believe we will be
getting it right."
Let's move to the second principle.
"It is the protection of the most vulnerable in our society. Children,
women, minorities; the third is the aboriginal justice. We will be judged by
how we relate and respond to the shameful situation of aboriginal people.
Aboriginal justice is a priority for me and for the government. Then we have
the criminal and civil justice reform. It's not enough to have a reform of
the Criminal Code. We have to take a look at the reform of the criminal law
in a very principled and comprehensive way. The fifth is the justice
contribution to the action plan for democratic renewal."
There is a lot of talking about this democratic renewal.
"We need a reform of freedom of information, anti-corruption initiatives and
a enhanced role for Parliamentarian with a review process for the
appointment of the Supreme Court justices and an outreach approach by the
minister of justice going out, going to the people, hearing what they have
to say, staying close to the terrain and being able to be always a student
and a minister at the same time."
Lately there has been an increase of hate crime. We had some examples in
Toronto and Montreal. One of your colleague also received some threats. Did
you receive any?
"As a minister I've never received any threats. I did in the past but I
reported [them] to the police."
Why does this happen now in Canada?
"There are two ways to look at it. One, we have seen a growing incidence of
hate crime. Incidents like the ones in Toronto and Montreal constitute an
assault on the inherent dignity and worth of every human being. It is an
assault on the equal dignity towards all human beings. What was happening in
the past against Jewish expression was more out of ignorance or stereotype.
What we have been seeing recently is the ratcheting up of this into a kind
of racist hate and violence. We have seen this not only against Jewish, but
also against other groups. We have seen a mosque torched and racist epithets
against other minorities. There is a growing incidence of intolerance and
hate. At the same time, however, I believe this needs to be said, there is
an unequivocal condemnation of this racist hate from all sectors of the
society."
Why?
"There is the copy-cat syndrome; then there are the globalization phenomena.
The globalization of conflict and media conveyance about conflict ‹ which
may in fact invite people to feel that a kind tribal response, with respect
to those of their brothers and sisters in their homeland from which they
have come ‹ where they see them as being victims and therefore they feel a
need to retaliate. It is a kind of transnational importation of hatred.
Furthermore we have another phenomenon we've never had before: which is the
hate on internet. The number of hate websites is simply exploding. So, we
see the convergence of the new technology, hate and the globalization, they
are new dynamics that we have never witnessed before. If you add to that,
the older dynamics, like copy-cat syndrome, you see the rational for the new
expression of hatred. This is not a Canadian phenomenon; this is a global
one we have been seeing elsewhere."
What would make you proud of your activity to report to your grandchildren
in the future?
"My daughter told me that ŒIf you want to know what the real test of the
human rights is, always ask yourself, at any time, in any part of the world
or any situation, ask if what is happening is good or not for the children.'
I've tried to keep the children in the forefront of my concerns. One of the
things I'd like to look to is try to do something about the humanitarian
catastrophe, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. There you have the
convergence of all of the human rights ills in the world today. The
incidence of AIDS, the politics of hunger, endemic poverty, environmental
degradation, the exploitation of the natural resources by the corporate
pillage and the likes, an armed conflict in the post-Rwanda, unspeakable
genocide that could have been prevented."
And Rwanda, unfortunately, is not the only place.
"We have the eastern region of the Congo, where three million people have
died in four years. This is astonishing. The world needs a wakeup call;
someone has to set the alarm on this. I'd like to think I can participate in
some modest way in doing something about the prevention of mass atrocities
and genocide: there is no more horrific threat to this planet today, and
there is no more serious place which this is happening than Africa. This is
the first thing I try to keep in the forefront. Then the struggle against
racism, against hatred of any kind as part of the larger struggle for human
rights and dignities. Third, I'd like to think I've played a modest role to
help establish a system of international criminal justice to the
International criminal courts to bring war criminals to justice. I'm telling
my children whenever you feel cynical and helpless and you ask yourself what
a single person can do, just look at one person, Nelson Mandela. He nurtured
the dream while in a South African prison and, once he came out of that, he
helped establish a democratic, multi-racial South Africa. One person, Andrei
Sakharov, stood up against the whole former Soviet Union. In the end, we
know, justice will prevail."
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