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Page 6 SePtember 8, 2014 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com COMMENT Step up Syrian refugee assistance t' s no understatement to say the world seemed to be descending into chaos in many places this summer. From Syria and Iraq to the battles between Israel and Hamas to the increasing descent into lawlessness and violence in Libya, the Middle East was once again a hotbed of instability and human trag- edy. Then, of course, there's the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, a situation that continues to stump the world's major powers. And a growing concern is the Ebola outbreak in west Africa that appears to be get- ting worse as the affected countries struggle to muster the resources needed to contain it. While these crises are far from here, situations like the recent be- heading of U.S. journalist Steve Sotloff show the impact they can have on this side of the world. And with Canadians reportedly involved in many of these crises, it's clear we're not immune. The Canadian government, then, needs to take action. When it comes to legal matters, there's no better place it can start than making faster progress on its promise to admit 1,300 Syrian refugees this year. Following an appeal by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for help in 2013, Canada committed to permanently reset- tling 1,300 Syrian refugees by the end of 2014: 200 of them through the government-assisted refugees program and 1,100 through the private sponsorship of refugees program. Progress, however has been slow. In July, The Globe and Mail Feds thumb their noses at Federal Court rime Minister Stephen Harper has cancelled construction of a new Federal Court building in Ottawa in favour of a monument. As a result, the Federal Court will have to continue renting courtroom space in government office buildings here and there in the nation's capital. Canada has been talking about having its own Federal Court building since 1920. Canada is the only major western nation with a federal system without a building for its federal court in its capital city. The issue stagnated until the Liberals finally got serious in 2002. At that time, the government set aside 5,000 square metres for the Federal Court on a piece of land on Wellington Street next to the Supreme Court of Canada. It was to call it the Pierre Elliott Trudeau judicial building in honour of the prime minister who gave us the Char- ter of Rights and Freedoms, a document Harper doesn't particularly like. Then four years later, Harper came to power and that was the end of the proj- ect. The government shelved plans for the Trudeau courthouse building. And then Harper gave away the land earlier this year to a private group called Tribute to Liberty that will build a $6-million monument touted as a memorial to the victims of communism. Harper's decision to cancel the Federal Court building is unpopular with judges, law- yers, and people who plead before the court, but especially with architects. Noted Canadian archi- tect Barry Padolsky has won awards around the world for his buildings. He's furious. In an open letter published in Ottawa newspapers, Padolsky accused Harper of having "stolen the land from its in- tended use." He continued: "We await your expla- nation of why the chosen site . . . was sto- len from its intended use as the location for a future Federal Court building." As of mid-week, there was still no reply from Harper. You can be sure that when you accuse the prime minister of stealing something, you won't be getting any fed- eral building contracts any time soon. Harper has no plans, it appears, for a memorial to the victims of capitalism. As far as we know, there are no plans for one for the victims of Nazism either. Why does a monument to a partic ular group of people in another country take pre- cedence over a major justice building to serve the nation? Does it have anything to do with what Harper thinks of judges, our courts, the Charter, and the Canadian justice system? Harper is the prime min- ister who cancelled the Court Challenges program when he came to power and then the Law Reform Commission of Canada, making us the only w estern country without such a body. We can get an idea of what Harper thinks of the courts from what he has said in the past. That could give us an idea of what he thinks of building great courthouses to house judges and lawyers. On June 13, 2000, The Globe and Mail quoted Harper as saying: "Yes, I share many of the concerns of my colleagues and allies about biased ' judicial activ- ism' and its extremes. I agree that serious f laws exist in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that there is no mean- ingful review, or accountability mecha- nisms, for Supreme Court justices." His infamous speech behind closed doors to a group of Conservative sup- porters in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Sept. 2, 2009, went along the same lines: "I ask you for a moment to imagine how differ- ent things would be if the Liberals were still in power. Imagine how many left- wing ideologues they would be putting in the courts, federal institutions, agencies, the Senate. I should say, 'How many more they would be putting in.'" Every year at the University of Ot- tawa, there's a big celebration to mark the anniversary of the Charter. Judges all the way up to the Supreme Court lev- el attend the festivities. Harper and his cabinet ministers, it seems, have been too busy every year to attend. The cel- ebrations go on without them. Does Harper sound like the sort of guy who wants to celebrate our system of justice by building a big federal court- house next to the Supreme Court on Wellington Street? Fighting communism with a $6-mil- lion monument is a much more impor- tant endeavour for him right now. LT Richard Cleroux is a freelance reporter and columnist on Parliament Hill. His e-mail address is richardcleroux@rogers. com. ©2014 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. 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So the government deserves some credit for try- ing to push the issue forward following earlier re- ports that little had happened so far, but it's clear it needs to step up those efforts to ensure it meets this year's goal and does even more in the future With millions of Syrians displaced by the on- going civil war, accepting a significant number of refugees is one small act we can undertake to al- leviate the suffering. As the world descends into more chaos, it be- comes even clearer how good things are here. Can- ada needs to do what it can to help. — Glenn Kauth I P The Hill Richard Cleroux

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