Re: "Arar inquiry may be next: But two independent reviews should finish first, McLellan says," Journal, Jan. 23, 2004.

Reacting to whether Ottawa journalist Juliet O'Neill acted criminally in the Arar case, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan replied: "In this country, you have to have charges laid and you have to be convicted in a court of law before anyone's considered a criminal."

If that's her view, then why was it that during five years as Justice Minister she oversaw pointless government prosecutions of so-called "war criminals" without the accused ever being charged with any crimes in a court of criminal jurisdiction, with Charter rights removed, and without any conviction for criminal acts resulting? She had no compunction stating publicly that the accused may have been "complicit" in unspecified actions -- a far cry from charging someone with an offence and then proving their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, as her statement implies.

The minister's duplicity is galling.

Eugene Harasymiw, president,
Ukrainian Self-Reliance Association,
Edmonton Branch