Let's Not Go There, Eh?
Just sent this email to my local Member of Parliament, cc'd the Prime Minister, and sent a modified version (to be speaking directly to him rather than a third party) to the minister in question.
I invite any other Canadians who read this to do the same. What the hell, guys?
*****
Dear Ms. McLeod;
I just heard a report on CBC Radio One's "The World at Six" that Canada's Minister of Public Safety is endorsing the use of information obtained by use of torture.
I wish to register in the strongest terms my extreme objection to torture and the use thereof in any way, whether by Canada directly or by us indirectly supporting it by making use of information from other sources that was obtained through torture.
Canada is supposed to be a decent, humanitarian country. We have a positive stance on gay rights and send humanitarian aid around the world. I am absolutely appalled to hear that any minister is in any way justifying the the use of torture in even the most extreme cases. This is not what Canada stands for, and I don't give a damned about justifying it in the name of public safety. This is a slippery slope, and even if Canada isn't engaging in torture directly ourselves, even by participating in it indirectly by accepting information that was obtained via torture we are explicitly supporting it.
This is not my Canada. We are different from "the bad guys", and one of the ways we are different is that we don't use torture. Period.
Please express my (and I'm sure most Canadians) complete disapproval of this. Never mind about whether or not information obtained by the use of torture is generally reliable or not (it isn't); there is a line that we, as a civilized nation should refuse to cross under any circumstances. How can we hold our heads high as a decent, caring, responsible nation if we permit the use of torture to benefit us in the slightest? How can we condemn the Syrian regime for the atrocities perpetrated upon its people there if we are perfectly willing to accept those same atrocities so long as we benefit from the results?
No. Just... No.
I cannot believe that any Canadian, let alone one with such a position of prominence, would ever condone the use of torture. I invite him to go to the nearest Legion and talk to the soldiers there, to stand at the cenotaph, and ask those who fought and died for us whether or not Canada are still the "good guys", if we still will be a country we can be proud to call our home, if we are willing to use torture.
The ends do not justify the means, and I would rather be blown up in an attack that may have been prevented if we'd used information obtained from torture, than to let even one single human being suffer that to obtain information that might have kept me safe.
Please, tell the government and Stephen Harper that this is absolutely anathema to what Canada stands for, and to cease the use of information that has been obtained from torture immediately.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
[Me]
Dear [Me],
Please allow me to assure you that the Government of Canada does not condone or use torture. I cannot agree with you that Minister Toews’ comments in his letter to CSIS director Richard Fadden constitute a “slippery slope”, as the situation it describes is a very extreme one with very narrowly-defined parameters. The situation the Minister describes is a theoretical scenario in which the Government of Canada receives information about an imminent terrorist attack from a source that may or may not have obtained the information through torture. The point the Minister was making was that the government could not stand idly by and not act (or at least prepare to act) on the information while they attempt to verify whether it had been obtained by torture or not. You could certainly imagine the fury of Canadians if they lost loved ones to an attack and were to find out that the government knew it was coming and did nothing because they were not sure about the source used by their informant.
Thankfully, the situation described in the Minister’s letter is a very unlikely one, and hopefully it will never actually happen. There is no question that torture is a morally repulsive practice that should be universally condemned, yet the government also has to act in a way that protects Canadians and does not place our ideals as absolute and above human life.
Thank you once again for contacting me.
Sincerely,
[MP]
This entry was originally posted at http://kryss-labryn.dreamwidth.org/64773.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I invite any other Canadians who read this to do the same. What the hell, guys?
*****
Dear Ms. McLeod;
I just heard a report on CBC Radio One's "The World at Six" that Canada's Minister of Public Safety is endorsing the use of information obtained by use of torture.
I wish to register in the strongest terms my extreme objection to torture and the use thereof in any way, whether by Canada directly or by us indirectly supporting it by making use of information from other sources that was obtained through torture.
Canada is supposed to be a decent, humanitarian country. We have a positive stance on gay rights and send humanitarian aid around the world. I am absolutely appalled to hear that any minister is in any way justifying the the use of torture in even the most extreme cases. This is not what Canada stands for, and I don't give a damned about justifying it in the name of public safety. This is a slippery slope, and even if Canada isn't engaging in torture directly ourselves, even by participating in it indirectly by accepting information that was obtained via torture we are explicitly supporting it.
This is not my Canada. We are different from "the bad guys", and one of the ways we are different is that we don't use torture. Period.
Please express my (and I'm sure most Canadians) complete disapproval of this. Never mind about whether or not information obtained by the use of torture is generally reliable or not (it isn't); there is a line that we, as a civilized nation should refuse to cross under any circumstances. How can we hold our heads high as a decent, caring, responsible nation if we permit the use of torture to benefit us in the slightest? How can we condemn the Syrian regime for the atrocities perpetrated upon its people there if we are perfectly willing to accept those same atrocities so long as we benefit from the results?
No. Just... No.
I cannot believe that any Canadian, let alone one with such a position of prominence, would ever condone the use of torture. I invite him to go to the nearest Legion and talk to the soldiers there, to stand at the cenotaph, and ask those who fought and died for us whether or not Canada are still the "good guys", if we still will be a country we can be proud to call our home, if we are willing to use torture.
The ends do not justify the means, and I would rather be blown up in an attack that may have been prevented if we'd used information obtained from torture, than to let even one single human being suffer that to obtain information that might have kept me safe.
Please, tell the government and Stephen Harper that this is absolutely anathema to what Canada stands for, and to cease the use of information that has been obtained from torture immediately.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
[Me]
Dear [Me],
Please allow me to assure you that the Government of Canada does not condone or use torture. I cannot agree with you that Minister Toews’ comments in his letter to CSIS director Richard Fadden constitute a “slippery slope”, as the situation it describes is a very extreme one with very narrowly-defined parameters. The situation the Minister describes is a theoretical scenario in which the Government of Canada receives information about an imminent terrorist attack from a source that may or may not have obtained the information through torture. The point the Minister was making was that the government could not stand idly by and not act (or at least prepare to act) on the information while they attempt to verify whether it had been obtained by torture or not. You could certainly imagine the fury of Canadians if they lost loved ones to an attack and were to find out that the government knew it was coming and did nothing because they were not sure about the source used by their informant.
Thankfully, the situation described in the Minister’s letter is a very unlikely one, and hopefully it will never actually happen. There is no question that torture is a morally repulsive practice that should be universally condemned, yet the government also has to act in a way that protects Canadians and does not place our ideals as absolute and above human life.
Thank you once again for contacting me.
Sincerely,
[MP]
This entry was originally posted at http://kryss-labryn.dreamwidth.org/64773.html. Please comment there using OpenID.