Unfair Dealing

Produced by Canadian broadcaster David Weingarten, [http://weingarten.ca/] ."Unfair Dealing" is an independent documentary released in 2008. The film was originally marketed to an online audience. [http://www.youtube.com/user/UnfairDealing] [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080326.terror27/BNStory/National/home]

The film alleges that the terrorism charges brought against the "Toronto 18" were largely exaggerated or fabricated by the RCMP and CSIS in order to justify the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act, and increased funding for security and law enforcement. [http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=71008] [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080326.terror27/BNStory/National/home] [http://intl-news.blogspot.com/2008/03/unfair-dealing-homegrown-terrorism-of.html] [http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=71008] .

Areas of controversy

Suspicious timing/circumstances surrounding the arrests

The film refers to an article in Maclean's Magazine, in which Muslim politician Wajid Khan tacitly admits that surveillence on at least one suspect was the result of him speaking out against Canada's role in the War in Afghanistan [http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20060619_128868_128868&source=srch] .The film also scrutinizes the politically-sensitive timing of the arrests, since they were carried out shortly before a Parliamentary Review of Canada's Anti-terrorism Act [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/antiter/index.html] [http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committee_SenProceed.asp?Language=E&Parl=39&Ses=1&comm_id=597] .Another issue raised in the film is the history of scandals surrounding the RCMP and previous dirty trick tactics [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/1999/01/30/sabotage990130.html] [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/8427-e.htm#B.%20Abuses] , as well as their previous unsuccessful attempts to arrest large groups of Canadians under the guise of combating terrorism [http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_mann/20070223.html] [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/11/17/deported031117.html] .The film examines the sensational media-coverage of the "Toronto 18", and strongly criticizes the roles and motivations of two informants involved in the case.

The informants

One police informant who assisted in the arrests is Mubin Shaikh. Shaikh was reportedly in charge of accompanying some of the accused on a camping trip, where they played paint-ball in a forest north of Toronto [http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/torontoterror/timeline.html] . Shaikh has contradicted his claims that this camping trip was a terrorist training camp [http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/441384] [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/17/brampton-trial.html] . According to Maclean's, Shaikh has "outed himself on national TV, proclaimed the innocence of some of the accused, snorted cocaine on the taxpayers' dime, and pleaded guilty to threatening two 12-year-old girls." [http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20080723_115512_115512]

The other informant is in witness protection. In 2006, he was identified as an Egyptian in his 20's, with a degree in agricultural engineering [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/10/13/second-person.html] . According to the CBC, "the young mole's degree in agricultural engineering could have given the alleged conspirators access to much larger quantities of ammonium nitrate than they could have purchased at ordinary retail outlets." [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/10/13/second-person.html] Some critics say this fact could foreshadow the use of entrapment as a defense, since the informants actions facilitated the purchase of bomb-making materials that the suspects would have been otherwise unable to acquire [http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/435211] .

Other controversies

"Unfair Dealing" raises the issue of abuse in the prisons where the remaining "Toronto 18" suspects are being held. The film points to the fact that some suspects have been in solitary confinement for almost two years [www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/299065] , which is considered by some to be a form of cruel and unusual punishment [http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR511462007?open&of=ENG-2M4] [http://www.cnn.com/US/9801/09/solitary.confinement/] . Another issue raised in the film is treatment of the prisoners, specifically Steven Vikash Chand, who the CBC reports was allegedly hit on the face, "then dragged... naked along a hallway by his hair and (thrown) into a bare cell smeared with feces and smelling of urine." [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/05/06/bomb-abuse.html] "Unfair Dealing" also casts suspicion on the proximity of an RCMP detachment to a warehouse where the suspects allegedly had bomb-making materials delivered, which is within 800 meters of the Toronto North RCMP Detachment in Newmarket, Ontario.

Accuracy

Many details of the arrests remain blacked out due to a publication ban on court proceedings. However since the release of "Unfair Dealing", at least one claim in the film has been partially proven true through court proceedings. The informant Mubin Shaikh has admitted that the attendees of an alleged terrorist training camp North of Toronto were actually unaware of any terrorist plans to attack Canada [http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/444127] , as is alleged in the documentary.

Production team

Adil Lakhani is the co-producer of "Unfair Dealing". He is a radio-personality with CIUT-FM, and is originally from Mississauga [http://www.take5.fm/castcrew.html#dilly] .David Weingarten is a Toronto-area broadcaster who has worked at CBC/Radio-Canada and CIUT-FM in Toronto.

References