Categorically Incorrect: Ethical Fallacies in Canada's War on Terror

by A. Alan Borovoy

Overview

If humanity has learned anything from the horrors of the war against terror, it is that our one hope is democracy. The final goal of our country’s actions at home and abroad is the preservation of democracy. This is the lens through which our policies should be discerned, dissected, and amended.

Borovoy argues that Canada has pursued an ethically cockeyed war against terror. We have been needlessly dovish abroad and excessively hawkish at home. In order to use military force abroad, the government fussed over the need for UN approval. At home, however, there are no such restraints: without even asking a court, the government may effectively deprive certain perople of the right to make a living. As the author summrizes: "Internationally, key fallacies stem from an undue respect for a rule of law that does not exist. Domestically, key fallacies stem from an undue neglect of a rule of law that does exist."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459718517
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	07/03/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
File size:	362 KB

About the Author

A. Alan Borovoy is general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and former director of the Labour Committee of Human Rights. The holder of four honorary doctorates, Borovoy was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1982. This is his fourth book; his first, When Freedoms Collide, was nominated for a Governor General's award in 1989.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements     7
Preface     11
A Beginning Word     15
Abroad     23
In General     25
The "Root Causes" Phenomenon     25
The Perpetual Paramountcy of Peace     31
Deference to the United Nations     32
The Multilateral Requirement     36
The Doctrine of Pre-Emption     37
Equivalence Mongering     40
Retaliating, Negotiating, and Accommodating     44
Democracy and Sovereignty     48
On Iraq     51
A Perspective     51
The Question of Evidence     52
Invasion Issues     56
Post-Invasion Issues     67
At Home     77
In General     79
Expanding the Offences     83
The Triggering Definition     83
Lowering the Threshold of Culpability     89
Expanding the Powers     93
The Ostracizing of Terror Suspects     93
Preventive Detention     96
Requiring Investigative Assistance     97
Electronic Bugging     98
The Secrecy of Proceedings     99
The Security of Information     101
Controlling Access to International Conferences     104
More Anti-Hate Measures     107
Permissible Law-Breaking     110
The Adequacy of the Safeguards     113
The Fate of the "Sunset" Proposal     113
Mechanisms of Oversight     116
The Role of the Minister     121
Consequential Issues and Collateral Fallout     125
Controlling Status and Mobility     125
Torture     134
A Word About U.S. Domestic Behaviour     146
Religious Faith and Secular Clout     149
A Concluding Word     165
Notes     169
Index     195

Editorial Reviews

"Categorically Incorrect, exposes ethical fallacies in policy-making, both at home and elsewhere, in Canada's war on terror."

Weekend Post - Sydney Goldenberg

"The first sentence alone should be enough to make people pay attention: 'This book is dedicated to the memory of North America's tough-minded democratic Left.'"

Georgia Straight - Terry Glavin

"... advances the view that Canada has been 'needlessly dovish abroad and excessively hawkish at home.'"

Toronto Sun - Peter Worthington

"Categorically Incorrect, exposes ethical fallacies in policy-making, both at home and elsewhere, in Canada's war on terror."

"... advances the view that Canada has been 'needlessly dovish abroad and excessively hawkish at home.'"

"The first sentence alone should be enough to make people pay attention: 'This book is dedicated to the memory of North America's tough-minded democratic Left.'"

From the Publisher