Security and Rights in Canada

If Maher Arar's exoneration wasn't enough, the past couple weeks have seen more good news from Canada regarding the war on terror (youngest accused in 'terror sweep' has charges stayed and 'security certificates' squashed by Supreme Court).

Now, news that Parliament has voted against the government's efforts to extend 'terror law' by three years:

Opposition parties joined forces Tuesday to vote down the extension of two contentious anti-terrorism measures, ending an acrimonious political battle rife with accusations of dirty politics.

But the debate over national security versus civil liberties is sure to continue into the next election campaign.

Indeed, Prime Minister Stephen Harper predicted that the Liberals will be defeated in the next election because of their refusal to back a government motion seeking to extend the security measures for three years.

“This issue is not going to go away. It’s going to haunt the Liberal party from now until the election campaign,” Harper said after the motion was defeated by a vote of 159 to 124.

“Any party that doesn’t take the national security of Canadians seriously will never be chosen by Canadians to form the government of Canada.”