OTTAWA – One month after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as Canada’s ruling Liberal party introduced the country’s first anti-terror bill, a government backbencher rose to speak out against it.Liberal MP Irwin Cotler — already a lawyer, law professor, and an esteemed international human rights advocate before entering politics — proposed 10 changes to make the bill stronger and more democratic.”Irwin, whose side are you on?” Cotler recalled an exasperated foreign minister John Manley asking him.In the end, the Liberals incorporated seven of Cotler’s suggestions, and two years later, the Montreal MP would be promoted to cabinet, becoming …read more
Source: National Newswatch
