Summary
The author examines the Maher Arar affair through the three phases of his “extraordinary rendition” from the United States to a year of torture in a Syrian prison; the public inquiry under Mr. Justice Dennis O’Connor into the complicity of Canadian officials; and the aftermath of the inquiry reports, including the impact on the government of Canada on national security policy and on Canadian society. He identifies two major pieces of unfinished business: the unresolved question of illegal media leaks designed to cast doubt on Mr. Arar’s innocence and bolster the reputation of the officials who were investigating his alleged terrorist links, and the effect of the Arar affair on Canadian-US intelligence-sharing practices. He also points out two serious shortcomings in Justice O’Connor’s policy recommendations: the lack of any consideration of the role of Parliament in national security review, and the deliberate focus on propriety issues at the expense of consideration of the efficacy of national security operations.