By Judi McLeod & arthur Weinreb
Monday, July 24, 2006
When George Orwell penned his immortal words that "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others", he must have had future Canadian Supreme Court of Canada Justice Louise arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in mind.
It's not that arbour is one of le cachon characters in animal Farm, it's that arbour equates an Israel she sees as deliberately targeting civilians with your average suicide bomber.
War crimes charges, she says, may be warranted against Israel and Hezbollah if measures aren't taken to protect civilians.
among those shocked in the aftermath of the intemperate remarks of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights are alan Baker, Israel's ambassador to Canada and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The tawdry tale of the unbridled ambition of Louise arbour, whose climb up the ladder of success was due, in part to the common law partner and father of her three children, is witness indeed to the theory that some animals are far more equal than others.
Larry Taman, arbour's former common law partner was once Deputy attorney General, serving under Ontario's influential attorney General, Ian Scott.
"Despite her lack of training in Ontario's common law, Madam Justice arbour was appointed to the High Court of Justice (Supreme Court of Ontario) in 1987, and then to the Ontario Court of appeal in 1992." (REaL Women of Canada, Feb. 2003). "These appointments were facilitated by her common law partner's close association with the Ontario attorney General, Ian Scott, whose brother is the equally influential Ottawa lawyer, David Scott. The latter, until October 1996, served as a member of the Justice Department's Judicial appointment advisory Committee, and was also on the (federal) Judges Salary Commission, He was the very influential person who was able to `arrange' in his official capacity, the appointment of Madam Justice arbour as a judge on the Ontario court."
arbour moved on from life with Larry in 1996, immediately prior to getting appointed prosecutor of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the Hague, during which time she indicted former Yugoslav and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, among others for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This appointment was made, despite the fact that it was illegal under Canadian law. The federal Judges act requires that federal judges may only engage in matters within the legislative authority of Parliament.
as prosecutor of the War Crimes Tribunal, Judge arbour was paid by the UN, approximately $250,000.00 US annual salary, tax free, and received her instructions from the UN Tribunal. These provisions posed no difficulty for this well-connected ambitious judge. Then Minister of Justice, allan Rock, arranged to have an amendment to the Judges act to accommodate Madam Justice arbour's unprecedented appointment to the UN Tribunal. (This amendment has since become known as the `arbour' amendment).
arbour's seeming propensity to achieve high office without the virtue of experience carries on in her office as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the person of her deputy, Mehr Khan Williams of Pakistan. Williams is retiring after a 30-year stint at the UN. She is not a lawyer and has no understanding of law or human rights law–but was made arbour's deputy. Williams is leaving the UN, taking with her about $500,000 in pensions and benefits.
More than passing strange that a feminist and pro-abortion activist like Louise arbour would be identified in UN media communiqués as "Mrs. arbour" but that is precisely how the UN officially addresses her. "Throughout her academic and judicial career, Mrs. arbour has published extensively in the area of criminal procedure, criminal law, human rights, civil liberties and gender issues." (United Nations Press Release, July 1, 2004).
arbour was media-rocketed to fame in 1995 having earned recognition in Canada for her work at the head of an investigation into the operation of the correctional service, based on allegations by female inmates at a women's prison in Kingston, Ontario.
By equating Israel with Hezbollah, Israeli's ambassador to Canada laments that arbour just doesn't get it.
Not only does the politically savvy arbour get it, she's part of the inner circle of appeasers setting Middle East public policy at Turtle Bay.
In lockstep with the appeasers, arbour replaced Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, on august 19, 2003.
She takes her marching orders from UN Secretary-General Kofi annan and was taking marching orders from the Secretary-General long before landing the portfolio as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
When Kofi annan was in Ottawa for an official state visit in the afternoon and evening of March 8, 2004 he met privately with "Mrs. arbour" at the official residence of Canada's Governor-General adrienne Clarkson.
In his earlier welcoming remarks, the secretary-general said that Canada was a truly diverse and multilingual society, which forms a kind of UN of its own.
No doubt he included "Mrs. arbour when he noted, "Canadians are born Multilateralists."
Though she leads a charmed life in her Geneva offices, her propensity for doublespeak has dogged arbour during her two years as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Human-rights activists were there to remind her of past grievances when only last month, she marked International Day in Support of Victims of Torture by calling for an absolute ban on torture.
Speaking from Geneva, arbour said that governments are bound by international prohibitions against sending individuals back to countries where they face the risk of torture under any circumstances.
activists know that arbour was a member of the Supreme Court of Canada in 2002, which ruled 9-0 in favour of deporting people to face a substantial risk of torture "in exceptional circumstances."
Meanwhile, Mrs. arbour always got it, whether she was qualified for the job or not.
arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, FoxNews,
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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