Public Safety committee  That's right, and never were expressions such as “Islamic extremist” ever used in my presence.

Public Safety committee  Or “terrorist” or the one that was floating around in those leaks? There was also one about some kind of “fanatic Islamic” or something. Those were the three terms that we heard, but you never heard any of those. You never got a briefing that indicated to you that he was anything in those categories.

Public Safety committee  Ashcroft did as well. So we had that. And then we had the media leaks in which terms like “Islamic extremist” and “terrorist” were floated, describing Mr. Arar. Some of those were before you became minister and some were after, but as the minister during that period of time, did you not question whether that description of Mr.

Public Safety committee  Can you tell us, either at the time of those briefings or subsequently, did the Commissioner or the RCMP tell you that they were ruling out Maher Arar as a terrorist or as an Islamic extremist? At any time, did they admit that there had been false information provided to the United States that may have led to the arrest of Maher Arar?

Public Safety committee  Justice O'Connor's report, as well as the comments before this committee by Commissioner Zaccardelli and others—in my presence, neither Commissioner Zaccardelli nor anyone else, either from the RCMP or CSIS, ever referred to Mr. Arar as an Islamic extremist. That was an expression that was never used in relation to Mr. Arar in my presence—ever.

Eid al-Fitr  Mr. Speaker, Eid al-Fitr is one of the major festivals in the Islamic faith. It is celebrated after the month of Ramadan during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown. For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month of blessing, marked by prayer, fasting and charity.

Syed Ashar Warsi  At his funeral, Syed was honoured by many friends, family members and well-known members of both the Islamic and political community. Syed was a true Canadian and an inspiration to us all. He will be dearly missed, but never forgotten.

Public Safety committee  Now, the O'Connor report concluded that the RCMP had conveyed false and misleading information, to the effect that Maher Arar was an Islamic extremist associated with al-Qaeda, which, as the commission concluded, likely contributed to the subsequent rendition of Mr. Arar to Syria. Commissioner Zaccardelli, in his appearance before this committee, said that the RCMP corrected this false and misleading information on or around October 2002, on the occasion of Mr.

Captain Nichola Goddard Scholarship  Mr. Speaker, this week the Canadian Islamic Congress awarded its first ever Captain Nichola Goddard Scholarship in Peace and Conflict Studies. This honour was awarded to Ahmad Syed, a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, who is concentrating his studies on conflict resolution and conflict avoidance.

Public Safety committee  I'm going to focus on what information CSIS gave to the RCMP, which then gave information to the U.S. After that, we'll talk a bit about the return to Canada. Was the phrase “group of Islamic extremist individuals suspected of being linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist movement” used in the CSIS information originally given to the RCMP? What was the basis for that conclusion?

National Defence committee  For them to do that in the name of religion is utterly fraudulent and utterly without credibility, so I'm not sure how you can trust them to follow any Islamic oath. That's a question or a statement. You can argue with it.

National Defence committee  I have a question on the poppy thing. How strong are those local commanders? Will the Taliban ever follow the Islamic oaths that are taken by communities of farmers, and would the Taliban ever allow an alternative crop to poppies when they can earn so much more from illegal drugs than they can from legal apples?

National Defence committee  We need to run the pilot projects, but if they grow poppies for medicine, our studies have shown that the net farmer income, which is different from the farm gate price—you guys know what I'm talking about there—is the same or more, we think. Please let us go and find out. Will they obey their Islamic oaths? Yes, because first and foremost, the people of Afghanistan are Muslims.

National Defence committee  That was a fantastic opportunity for the western world to build a really close relationship with an Islamic nation. We're kind of on a cusp now, a tipping point, as to which way this is going to go. That is why I'm pleading so strongly for staying the course there and finding new initiatives.

National Defence committee  And I've said to them directly, “Will you allow this to be diverted for heroin?” They have a type of Islamic oath that they sign, which they use all the time. It's like our personal guarantee or our promise on my word. They've said that. They want it. They want that opportunity. They want to make a lawful living.