Alexandre Trudeau's Questionable Approach

The Ottawa Citizen is reporting today that Alexandre Trudeau, brother of Prime Minister Trudeau, sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale requesting his intervention in preventing the deportation of Mohamed Harkat. Although Harkat's deportation had been challenged, the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the government's decision to deport Harkat based on sufficient evidence that he was an active member of the al-Qaida terrorist network. Harkat contends that if deported to Algeria he could be subjected to torture.

Based on available information it appears the process followed thus far has been according to law. While anyone can disagree with the decisions being made, and there are systems in place to address legitimate concerns, in this instance having the brother of the Prime Minister lobby a senior cabinet minister is a highly inappropriate approach. Alexandre Trudeau showed poor judgement in placing Minister Goodale in such an awkward position. Even if Minister Goodale states he will make a decision without pressure or influence from the Prime Minister, the public perception of how this is handled will be questioned. As far as Alexandre Trudeau's appeal to his brother's "sunny ways", that language has no place in the context of dealing with terrorist related issues. This is not a 'group hug' matter.