Tag: irwin cotler

A test for Trudeau? Canada's Liberals split on Iraq combat mission

TrudeauVotes
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau (C) stands to vote against a government motion to participate in U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State militants operating in Iraq, The motion passed 157 to 134. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)

Justin Trudeau is facing the first serious test of his leadership of Canada’s Liberals in the wake of a parliamentary vote to send Canadian fighter jets to Iraq.

Trudeau and most Liberal MPs voted agains the idea.

But Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister and a globally recognized human rights defender, abstained from the vote, saying in a statement that his “principled absention”, as he called it, was a result of his recognition that military intervention against Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Syria is required but that the Harper government’s proposal lacked “clarity.”

Cotler, former Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and former Liberal cabinet ministers Lawrence MacAulay and Mauril Bélanger were also absent from Tuesday night’s vote. Continue reading A test for Trudeau? Canada's Liberals split on Iraq combat mission

Irwin Cotler: Legislation Rushed is Justice Denied

From Liberal MP Irwin Cotler:

While much has been written about the Conservative government’s omnibus
crime bill, C-10, little attention has been paid to one of its nine
constituent bills, the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, landmark
legislation that would allow – for the first time – Canadian victims of
terror to sue their terrorist perpetrators in Canadian courts.
I supported this legislation and had even proposed something similar in a
Private Member’s Bill during a previous Parliament. Regrettably, the
Government’s legislation was flawed Continue reading Irwin Cotler: Legislation Rushed is Justice Denied

Speaker's ruling on the Cotler privilege motion/Conservative dirty tricks

Hot off the presses, the ruling from the Speaker of the House of Commons on the complain from the member for Mount Royal, Irwin Cotler, that his privileges were breached after the Conservative Party blanketed his riding with a push poll that suggested he had retired or was retiring. This was read into the record in the Commons a few minutes ago: Continue reading Speaker's ruling on the Cotler privilege motion/Conservative dirty tricks