Day defends costly anti-terror measures
7 T; Z$ c4 p! `- V) r1 i( d <table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"> <tbody><tr><td valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\"> Chip Martin
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' \7 W, G2 H1 T9 h4 y, B4 v </td><td align=\"right\" valign=\"top\" width=\"50%\"> March 21, 2008 </td></tr></tbody></table> Anti-terrorism measures may offend legal sensibilities, but they\'re necessary because Canada remains a target for terrorists, federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told law students in London yesterday (Mar. 20). <table align=\"right\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100\"><tbody><tr><td align=\"right\"> <!-- IMAGE: 228456.jpg -->
" r8 F8 B2 }: z( i' a& b$ dFIGHTING TERROR: Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day addresses law students at the University of Western Ontario yesterday (Mar. 20). He said Canada has to take tough and costly anti-terror measures because our nation is a target for terrorists. (SUE REEVE/Sun Media)
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</td></tr></tbody></table> \"Centuries-old principles of liberty and freedom are being challenged a little bit,\" Day told a crowd of about 100 at the University of Western Ontario.
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Day said his government believes Canada remains a target for terrorists both internally and externally. Arch-terrorist Osama Bin Laden has mentioned Canada by name as a target at least twice, he said.
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Day said anti-terrorism legislation that allows detaining suspects without charge for 48 hours, the security certificate that allows detaining suspects, and increased spending for border and other policing measures are warranted in the current climate.
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While the bombing of an Air India plane in 1985 was the first terrorist attack on Canadians, it was the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. that really triggered the anti-terrorism fight in Canada, he conceded.
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" v0 A2 C% L4 @ L1 q! ]. Z+ U\"We believe we are a target simply because of the things we believe,\" he said. That means defending freedom by supporting NATO and the UN.
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) C5 N& M9 @. J& d\"It would be very difficult for us not to be a target,\" Day said.
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9 {+ _- d, Y8 v. v p0 ZHe noted that post-9/11, a French newspaper headline screamed We\'re all Americans Now to underscore the sentiment that terrorists would target U.S. allies.
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+ f! k6 O7 ^+ x- M+ xAside from straying from long-established legal principles like the presumption of innocence, the right to speedy trials and open justice, Day said the country is incurring a price tag of about $6 billion a year to fund his office, which directs the RCMP, CSIS, border security and other beefed-up security measures.
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( j! l+ i8 {# `* V\"It comes down to what price freedom and what price security?\" he said, adding, \"The amount is not small.\"
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The public safety minister said further costs are incurred by the military\'s involvement in Afghanistan and international relief efforts intended to undermine the root causes of terrorism.
% a' u0 M5 c4 U* D0 t Chip Martin is a Free Press politics reporter.
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[EMAIL=\"cmartin@lfpress.com\"] E-MAIL: Chip Martin [/EMAIL]
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