"Waiting is the worst part"

No, actually, the worst part is that this absurd charade continues to play out. Canadian Security sources claim they have incontrovertible evidence that links Mohamed Harkat with al-Qaeda. He is deemed to have been an integral part of al-Qaeda operations, a man with links to a number of key terrorists, among them the father of Omar Khadr, Ahmed Said Khadr, while he lived in Pakistan, helping to operate a 'guest house' for jihadis passing through the area.

Mr. Harkat has ferociously fought the government's intention to deport him to his native Algeria. Claiming that his life would be forfeit were he to be sent back there. He wishes to remain in Canada. And this man, who claims innocence as a simple pizza delivery man erroneously taken for a sleeper agent for al-Qaeda, would like nothing better than to be permitted to live a free and open existence as a committed Canadian.

He and his wife would like to plan for a family, for he would like to have children - "at least one mini-Mo", he says, sweetly. "I'm getting old, you know. And when I'm back and forth in my rocking chair, I want someone to visit me." We know the feeling. We would also like for Mr. Harkat to be able to live a more normal life. He would have no difficulty living that normal life in Algeria.

The choice, after all, is his. His past as a putative 'aid worker' for five years in Pakistan, sounds very much like that of Ahmed Said Khadr, who also claimed to be an aid worker. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service believe him to have been a subordinate and useful al-Qaeda hanger-on. And he, according to CSIS, like his mentor Khadr senior, facilitated the transfer of money and people in the terrorist network.

If Canadians have to trust someone, some entity at this time of global unrest where threats from fanatical Islamists pop up with fair regularity, and mass slaughters of innocent Muslims praying in their mosques highlight the incendiary mind-boggling hatred of jihadis for any - Muslim, Christian, Jews, whom they consider to be indifferent to their brand of Islam, the obvious choice would be our security agencies.

We are so invested in our liberal-left concept of fairness, justice, equality, relativity, that we are prepared to forego the nastiness of inconveniencing anyone who looks like a jihadi suspect, acts like one, and threatens us as such. Our scruples may represent as noble but they are not obviously and effectively useful in our own defence.