March 9, 2010

It's Tuesday, March 9th.

An estimated 62 per cent of Iraqis turned out to vote in the country's general election. A better turnout than Canada's last federal election.

Currently, bear in mind, it's still an unstable, immature democracy.

This is The Current.

CSIS Interrogations - Wark

We started this segment with a clip of Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff speaking in question period yesterday. The report he is talking about says that beginning in 2006, officers from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service interrogated captured Taliban fighters in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The allegation comes from witness transcripts filed with the Military Police Complaints Commission. Those documents were obtained by the Canadian Press. And they suggest that CSIS officers also had a say in which detainees would be handed over to Afghan authorities.

These new revelations about the Canadian Security Service's role in Afghanistan raise some troubling questions for our next guest. Wesley Wark is a security expert with the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. We reached him in Ottawa today.

CSIS Interrogations - Juneau-Katsuya

We requested an interview with CSIS yesterday. We were told that no one from the service would be able to respond on such short notice. However, CSIS spokesperson Isabelle Scott did confirm that CSIS has a presence in Afghanistan, it has had one for the past few years and that CSIS will continue to provide security intelligence in Afghanistan in support of Canadian and Allied forces on the ground.

For his thoughts on how CSIS operates in cases such as this, we were joined by Michel Juneau-Katsuya. He was a senior intelligence officer and a senior manager with CSIS for 21 years. He retired in 2000 and is now the CEO of the Northgate Group, a private security and intelligence company. Michel Juneau-Katsuya was in Ottawa.

CSIS Interrogations - Drapeau

And for another perspective, we were joined by Retired Colonel Michel Drapeau. He served in the Canadian military for 34 years. He now teaches military and security law at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law. He was in Ottawa.

China & the Arctic - Jakobson

We started this segment with some sound of an icebreaker cutting its way through the Arctic ice. It turns out the largest non-nuclear ice-breaker in the world is owned by China ... a country with no Arctic territory and no obvious connection to the region. On top of that, China is now building another ice-breaker, one that would be smaller but capable of handling the kind of high-tech Arctic research in which the country is becoming increasingly engaged.

The full extent of China's Arctic ambitions was outlined in a report released last week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Initiative. It's called China and The High North Prepare for an Ice-Free Arctic. Linda Jakobson is the author of the report. She's the Acting Programme Director and the Senior Researcher for the Institute's Programme on China and Global Security. And she was in Shanghai.

China & the Arctic - Chang

According to Gordon Chang, China is likely to press its interests in the Arctic as far as it is able to ... something he says Canada should keep in mind in the coming years. Gordon Chang is a writer with a weekly geo-political column for Forbes.com. He has lived and worked in China and Hong Kong. He's also the author of The Coming Collapse of China. And he was in New York City this morning.

China & the Arctic - Byers

For his thoughts on whether Canada is equipped to impose its own prescense in this equation or defend its Arctic interests, we were joined by Michael Byers. He is the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. He's also the author of Who Owns The Arctic? And he was in Vancouver.

God & Brain

All over the world, people of different faiths call upon their version of a higher power. How they do that depends on their religion. But according to Lionel Tiger, the impulse to do it, and the rules and rituals that go along with it, have something in common. He says that all of it -- including the very idea of God -- is a product of a neurologically based need that originates in the human brain.

Lionel Tiger is the montreal-born anthropologist who is best known for coining the phrase "male bonding." In his new book, he turns his attention to God and neuroscience. He co-authored the book God's Brain with Michael McGuire. Lionel Tiger was in our Toronto studio.

Last Word - China Orchestra

We ended the program with some music from the 90-member China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra. Since 1957, the ensemble has brought classical Chinese symphonies to the world. And last night, for the first time, the CBCO played in Canada. It performed at the Spring Festival Gala at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, as part of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and China.

And so, with the potential for stress on that relationship because of competing interests in the Arctic - - something we touched on earlier in the program - - we leave you on an optimistic note.