Three Cheers for Paul!

I have been tormented about what to write on the Abousfian Abdelrazik affair. Here was a man so obviously wronged by his country, that the only words I could think of to describe my sentiments were unpublishable. For your country to abandon you is perhaps one of the most hurt insults to be handed.

With the Conservative Government finally attempting to rectify this sad situation that they had helped to propogate, it is time to move into a new direction. Liberal MP Glen Pearson does a nice bit reaching across the aisle with his pen in describing his experience with the matter:

But the one person who stuck on this file and deserves full praise for the
victory yesterday was the NDP’s Paul Dewar. Simply put, I found him
indefatigable in the cause of justice for Abdelrazik. And I speak from personal
experience, as we both sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Against all
odds, Dewar exhausted every parliamentarian option, time after time, not just in
an attempt to exonerate an innocent citizen, but to prove that the Canadian
parliament could be relevant in such a case. I watched as the government members
of the committee fought him vociferously. But he worked the system - very
well. In key votes on the case, the three opposition parties worked together and
won by one vote each time, Paul’s example being the key cause. I witnessed the
discouragement on his face every time as the government refused to abide by the
will of the committee on this. I would even text him on his Blackberry during
committee in an attempt to keep him assured. The hardest day came only
three weeks ago, when the Foreign Affairs Minister pointed his finger in anger
at Dewar over the issue, in a manner that was beneath the conduct of someone in
such an exalted position.

Four very important things happened yesterday. Above all, a innocent
exile is coming home to his family. Second, the opposition members weren’t so
much a coalition as a combined group of individuals who believe in human rights,
defending the ultimate rule of law over unprovable suspicion. Third, Parliament
worked yesterday in a way that surprised all of us and ultimately prevailed. And
finally, one man who believed in the system achieved his own freedom. A very
able parliamentarian who had been plagued by rancor and repeated defeats proved
to all of us, and himself, that a public servant dedicated to our freedoms can
be shining light that leads us into a better future. Well done Paul. I
love this kind of politics and you deserve the kind of summer reserved for
champions.

It is a nice way to end the Parliamentary session by paying compliments for the hard work of your fellow colleagues. Well done Glen.