French slip up reveals secret Bernier trip to Afghanistan

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier and his French counterpart will be in Afghanistan this weekend for what was supposed to be a visit to showcase NATO solidarity.

But details of the trip were revealed ahead of time by French diplomats, much to the surprise, consternation and in some cases alarm of the Conservative government in Ottawa.

"I am not going to discuss details of the minister's schedule," Bernier spokesman Neil Hrab said in a brief-mail note after the schedule was publicized.

French diplomats said Bernier and Bernard Kouchner will be in Kabul on Saturday, and Kandahar on Sunday.

Both Hrab and the prime minister's office were asked whether there would be any changes to the itinerary now that it had been it had been leaked. There was no response.

Senior defence officials were aghast Friday at what they considered to be a French security faux pas, but declined to criticize their ally who will bolster its presence in eastern Afghanistan in order to give Canadians the reinforcements they need in the south.

The military has made it a matter of the highest security whenever the prime minister, cabinet minister or other dignitaries visit the war-torn region. Their presence on the ground is usually not revealed until they have either landed - or left the theatre entirely.

Journalists travelling with Harper during his two trips to Kandahar were told they would declared a security risk and banned from future prime ministerial travel if they disclosed the trip ahead of time.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay came under rocket attack while visiting a forward operating base last fall. Senior military commanders later denied he was targeted by insurgents, but they often use the incident to reinforce the blackout mantra.

A political storm erupted over Christmas when Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and deputy leader Michael Ignatieff's itinerary in Afghanistan was disclosed by Helena Guergis, the foreign affairs parliamentary secretary.

Similarly, Prince Harry's combat tour of Helmand province with the British army was cut short when word of his presence was leaked to the international media last winter.

New Democrat defence critic Dawn Black said there are now serious concerns for the safety of both Bernier and Koucher.

"This is a serious breach of security and I hope the Canadian government will at the very least express its concerns to the French," she said Friday.

The visit is meant as a follow-up to the French announcement last week that it is sending 700 more troops to Afghanistan. France's offer of more troops at a NATO summit in Bucharest averted a looming crisis in the alliance over Afghanistan.

Canada had threatened to pull out its 2,500 beleaguered soldiers in the southern Kandahar province unless they had reinforcements from another ally.

France has 1,430 troops serving as part of the 47,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan and reports Friday in Paris suggested the French contribution could reach 3,000.

Washington has been lobbying European allies for months to send more troops to the front lines of the fight against the Taliban.

NATO is seeking to boost flagging public support for the mission in the face of growing Taliban violence.

The trip will also help with France's preparations for an international donors conference for Afghanistan in June.

The French donors conference is aiming at not just raising money but also reaching a broad new international strategy for Afghanistan, a French diplomat said.

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Japan executes 4 convicted murderers amid concerns about justice system

Japan executed four convicted murderers Thursday in a marked acceleration of hangings amid rising international concern about the fairness of the country's secretive justice system.

The round of executions was the third since December, when the Justice Ministry first started disclosing the identities of those hanged and details of their crimes.

Japan is one of the few industrialized countries that continue to impose capital punishment. It has executed 10 criminals in the past six months under Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, an outspoken supporter of the death penalty. In comparison, only one inmate was executed in 2005.

Hatoyama, who took office last August, denied his ministry was purposely picking up the pace of hangings. Three men were executed in December, and three more in February.

"I just carry out executions solemnly as justice minister in response to what the law requires," Hatoyama told reporters.

Human rights activists have long attacked Japan's criminal justice system. Critics say it relies too heavily on confessions extracted in lengthy - and allegedly abusive - interrogation sessions.

The death penalty system has also faced criticism. The condemned can wait many years for execution, and hangmen come to their cells to take them to the gallows without advance notice. Families are called after the fact to collect the bodies.

The criticism of secrecy in the justice system led the ministry to begin announcing the names of the executed and details of their crimes for the first time late last year.

Before that the ministry would simply announce the number of people executed after the sentences were carried out, without giving details. Prior to 1998, the government would only announce the total number of executions at the end of the year.

While still low, the number of executions in Japan has increased sharply in recent years. Four people were executed in 2006 and nine last year. So far this year, seven have been executed - far ahead of last year's pace.

"We protest today's executions," Amnesty International Japan said in a statement. "Today's executions were conducted about two months after the previous ones. This shows that the ministry is aiming at accelerating the pace of executions and executing inmates in large numbers."

The men executed Thursday were all convicted murderers.

Japan now has 104 inmates on death row after Thursday's executions, according to the ministry. Despite international criticism of Japan's death penalty, there is little opposition to the policy domestically.

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Dziekanski: Public Relations Disaster

The 'fess up' suggestion makes sense but only where public scrutiny is inevitable. Otherwise silence is golden. The problem here, from a purely public relations view, is that the government misestimated the media interest in Mr. Dziekanski -- or, perhaps, they were right except the video changed everything? Absent the video the story might well have died a quieter death than poor Mr. Dziekanski.
___________

Internal memos show border officials stalled details of Dziekanski death

THE CANADIAN PRESS

April 9, 2008 at 3:37 PM EDT

VANCOUVER -- Internal documents from the Canadian Border Services Agency show it was more concerned about protecting its reputation than providing information about a Polish immigrant who died at Vancouver International Airport, last year.

The documents, obtained by CTV News, show significant co-operation between the airport, RCMP and border services officials in controlling the release of details following the Oct. 14, 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski.

"Hopefully things will be quiet on this until tomorrow AM," reads one document.

"The material has been cleansed too much," reads another.

The documents show the federal agency and the Vancouver airport authority worked closely with the RCMP to ensure the three had their media messaging synchronized after an agitated Mr. Dziekanski died.

Two days after the death, the border agency came up with key messages for its spokesmen to deliver to the media -something called media lines.

"The CBSA is co-operating fully with RCMP," was one line.

"It would be inappropriate to comment on the case," was another.

An e-mail dated Oct. 25 from CBSA communications states: "The RCMP are hoping to stay with the no comment line today."

It was six weeks before the border agency made any kind of comment on Mr. Dziekanski's death.

In the immediate aftermath, reporters were directed to Ottawa.

The policy appears to have raised concerns from one local manager with the agency who wrote: "Our silence is deafening and criticism of our failure to speak is mounting."

The border services said they were not commenting until they'd had a chance to gather all the necessary information.

Although six weeks passed, the documents show that with only one exception, all the statements were gathered within three days of Mr. Dziekanski's death.

Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer for Mr. Dziekanski's mother, said he expected some kind of spin, but was surprised at the co-operation between the three agencies.

He said more interest was taken in trying to get a public relations message out than in getting to the bottom of the story and getting it out as quickly as possible.

"No one wants to accept blame," said Mr. Kosteckyj.

Prof. Lindsay Meredith, of Simon Fraser University, said the documents are a great example of how not to handle a crisis.

His public relations motto is: If you mess up, you fess up.

"You don't duck and bob and weave because all you're doing is making everyone suspicious as to what you're up to," said Prof. Meredith.

"This happened last October 2007. Here it is April 2008. We're still trying to bury the carcass on this story.

"Bad idea. This is how you don't do it."

CTV News contacted the Canadian Border Services Agency for a comment on the released documents but did not hear back.

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Polygamy Raids

Note the initial informant is missing but the authorities don't seem very concerned. Perhaps that says more than anything else?

Court documents: Girls at polygamist compound required to have sex in temple

April 9, 2008 - 23:02

Michelle Roberts, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Young teenage girls at a polygamist compound in West Texas were required to have sex in a soaring white temple after they were married in sect-recognized unions, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.

The temple "contains an area where there is a bed where males over the age of 17 engage in sexual activity with female children under the age of 17," said an affidavit quoting a confidential informant who left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Agents found a bed in the temple with disturbed linens and what appeared to be a female hair, said the affidavit signed by Texas Ranger Leslie Brooks Long. The Rangers are the state's investigative law enforcement arm.

The temple also contained multiple locked safes, vaults and desk drawers that authorities sought access to as they searched for records showing alleged marriages of underage girls as young as 12 or 13 to older men and births among the teens. The affidavit unsealed Wednesday mentions a 16-year-old girl who has four children.

Texas law prohibits polygamy and the marriage of girls under 16.

Also Wednesday, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers completed a weeklong search of the 1,700-acre grounds, said spokeswoman Tela Mange.

Lawyers for the sect had wanted to cut off the wide-ranging search as it dragged on but agreed in court Wednesday to the appointment of a special master who will vet what is expected to be hundreds of boxes of records, computers and even family Bibles for records that should not become evidence for legal or religious reasons.

Gerry Goldstein, a San Antonio lawyer flanked by nine other attorneys the church hired, said the search of the temple is analogous to a law enforcement search of the Vatican or other holy places. The church lawyers described in documents three men being dragged from the temple as law enforcement sought entry for the search.

Troopers also arrested two men over the week and charged them with interfering with the search.

Prosecutor Allison Palmer argued the search was to uncover any evidence of criminal activity, not to malign a religion.

The search of the compound in Eldorado, 40 miles south of San Angelo, began last Thursday after a 16-year-old girl called a local family violence shelter to report her 50-year-old husband beat and raped her. The search warrant covered all documents related to marriages among sect members, including photos and entries possibly written in family Bibles.

Since then, the state has taken legal custody of 416 children, who are being housed at two sites in San Angelo, about 200 miles west of San Antonio. Another 139 women voluntarily left the compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - known as the YFZ Ranch - and were being housed with the children.

Goldstein said a federal search warrant was issued as well as the state warrants.

Outside court, Goldstein declined to comment on the allegations against the church.

Court documents said a number of teen girls at the compound were pregnant, and all the children were removed on the grounds that they were in danger of "emotional, physical, and-or sexual abuse."

On Wednesday, state officials said the women and children were in good overall health but would not comment on pregnancies. About a dozen children appear to have chicken pox but were being separated at the evacuation sites, which include an old historic fort and a convention center here, said Child Protective Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen.

Authorities were trying to determine the identities and parentage of many of the children; some were unwilling or unable to provide the names of their biological parents or identified multiple mothers.

Officials still aren't sure where the 16-year-old girl is who made the initial call, and she is not named among the children in initial custody petitions by the state.

Texas has an outstanding arrest warrant for the man alleged to have been the girl's husband, Dale Barlow, 50. He's a registered sex offender who pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor in Mohave County, Ariz., last year.

An unknown number of men and women stayed at the ranch while authorities completed the search of the gleaming 80-foot-high temple, a cheese-making plant, a cement plant, a school, a doctor's office and housing units.

The Texas investigation is the state's first of FLDS members, but prosecutors in Utah and Arizona have pursued several church members in recent years, including sect leader Warren Jeffs. He is serving two consecutive sentences of five years to life for being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old wed to her cousin in Utah. He awaits trial on other charges in Arizona.

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Bastarache to retire from Supreme Court

Bastarache to retire from Supreme Court

KIRK MAKIN

GLOBE AND MAIL UPDATE

April 9, 2008 at 2:44 PM EDT

OTTAWA -- One of the Supreme Court of Canada's most senior and prolific judges - Mr. Justice Michel Bastarache - shocked the legal world this afternoon by announcing that he will retire at the end of the Court's spring session, on June 30.

In a release, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin gave no reason for Judge Bastarache's departure with almost 15 years left before he would reach the mandatory retirement age of 75.

However, speculation in the legal community centred around his health, which has prevented Judge Bastarache from sitting on several cases recently. In addition, rumours have circulated for several months that Judge Bastarache was no longer enjoying his work as much as he once had.

Judge Bastarache's retirement will launch the federal government into a search for a replacement from among the Atlantic provinces. It will also renew a long-standing debate over the manner in which Supreme Court judges are chosen and vetted.

Chief Justice McLachlin said yesterday that she is hopeful to have his replacement on the court by the time it begins its fall session, next October.

"Justice Bastarache has served on the Court with wisdom, and made enormous contributions to the Court and to Canada," Chief Justice McLachlin added. "He is a valued colleague and a friend, who will be missed by all the members of the Court."

Judge Bastarache said simply: "It is a great honour and privilege to be asked to be a member of the Supreme Court of Canada. There are but a small number of jurists who have had the opportunity to serve their country in this capacity, and to have had the chance to participate so directly in the development of the law. I am extremely grateful for the privilege of serving as a member of the Court.

Appointed from the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in 1997, Judge Bastarache quickly established himself as a hard-working judge with expertise in constitutional law, administrative law and minority language cases.

"I am extremely surprised by this," said Robert Jette, a veteran New Brunswick lawyer. "The fact that his retirement comes as a surprise to senior practitioners tells you something."

Mr. Jette said that there has been little talk about prospective Supreme Court appointments in the region, since it was generally assumed that it would be at least another decade before such an appointment would be made.

Most members of the legal community interviewed today felt it is unlikely that the nominees will come from New Brunswick, by virtue of the fact that Judge Bastarache, as well as the judge he replaced - Mr. Justice Gerard LaForest - both came from the province.

However, Philip Bryden, dean of law at the University of New Brunswick, said that the government may feel obliged to look to the province again if the quality of its candidates are noticeably superior to those in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

"He has been a tremendously hard-working judge," Dean Bryden said of Judge Bastarache. "He was very bright, and very able. He sticks out - along with Chief Justice McLachlin and Justice [Ian] Binnie as being core members of the Court who have made a most productive contribution.

"To my way of thinking, he has certainly been somebody who the New Brunswick legal community can be proud of."

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Arbitrations for Assessments Not Binding

An assessment is a distressing and time consuming process for counsel. The process is (no blame to the assessment officers!) slow, costly and uncertain.

It would be a good thing if counsel and clients could agree, early in their relationship, to arbitrate any fee disputes.

That aside, today's decision in Jean Estate v. Wires Jolley LLP, 2008 CanLII 14538 (ON S.C.) makes it clear that such an arbitration is not binding even if agreed to by a well advised and sophisticated client. The Court's duty to supervise the profession forbids opting out of the process.

The Court writes:

[28] Private commercial disputes may be well left to private and consensually chosen dispute resolvers particularly where the parties have a wish not to create a precedent. The relationship between members of the legal profession and the members of the public that they serve however, is one which transcends a mere commercial transaction. The profession has a monopoly over the provision of legal services and the occasions upon which lawyers interact with members of the public occur often when the latter are in the most vulnerable of circumstances. There is therefore an overarching public interest to be served in the court's supervision of the profession's monopoly.

[29] One may be entirely confident that the chosen arbitrator in this case, or indeed any consensually chosen arbitrator, would act judicially and skillfully in deciding the issues between the parties. There is, however, a residual institutional duty imposed on the court to have regard to the public interest and the broader ramifications of the decision it is to make that is not owed by a private arbitrator resolving a dispute privately.

[30] The freedom of parties to contract is not without limit; there are circumstances where that freedom is tempered by competing values. Because of the profession's monopoly and the imbalance in bargaining power that so often works in the solicitor's favour, it is in the public interest that the court retain a supervisory role to ensure that fee agreements are fair and reasonable and it is for that purpose that the Solicitors Act confers access to the court and establishes a mechanism or protocol for the determination of the reasonableness of a solicitor's fees (see Plazavest Financial Corp. v. National Bank of Canada 2000 CanLII 5704 (ON C.A.), (2000), 47 O.R. (3d) 641 at 646). Similarly, in Price v. Sonsini 2002 CanLII 41996 (ON C.A.), (2002), 60 O.R. (3d) 257, the Court of Appeal observed, at page 263,

Public confidence in the administration of justice requires the court to intervene where necessary to protect the client's right to a fair procedure for the assessment of a solicitor's bill. As a general matter, if a client objects to a solicitor's account, the solicitor should facilitate the assessment process, rather than frustrating the process. See Orkin, The Law of Costs, 2nd ed. . In my view, the courts should interpret legislation and procedural rules relating to the assessment of solicitors' accounts in a similar spirit. As Orkin argues, if the courts permit lawyers to avoid the scrutiny of their accounts for fairness and reasonableness, the administration of justice will be brought into disrepute. The court has an inherent jurisdiction to control the conduct of solicitors and its own procedures. This inherent jurisdiction may be applied to ensure that a client's request for an assessment is dealt with fairly and equitably despite procedural gaps or irregularities.

[31] In my view, although the statute does not express a prohibition against contracting out of the right to an assessment, an agreement to arbitrate is in effect an agreement by the client to relinquish his recourse to the court and ought not to be enforced.

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

BUSH SHOULD BOYCOTT OLYMPICS

Clinton: Bush should not open Olympics

By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday called on President Bush to stay away from the Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing, a fresh sign that politics, not sports, may take center stage at the summer games.

The Democratic presidential candidate said a boycott of the opening ceremonies by Bush would underscore U.S. concerns about the recent unrest in Tibet and questions about China's relationship with Sudan.

"The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for presidential leadership," she said, charging the Bush administration "has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China."

She said Bush should not plan on attending the ceremonies "absent major changes by the Chinese government."

Her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama, said recently that he was conflicted about whether the U.S. should fully participate.

President Bush has said he will attend the Olympics because it is a sporting event, not a political event.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters Monday that his position had not changed, nor had the administration's concerns about China's human rights record.

"We have never been afraid to express those views either directly by the president or the president's senior advisers when they travel to China and publicly," Fratto said.

Zimbabweans Prepare for Mugabe to Stay

For a few brief moments, Zimbabweans suffering under the authoritarian rule of Robert Mugabe allowed themselves a rare burst of optimism after their longtime president suffered what appeared to be a devastating electoral loss.

But ruling party stalwarts and security chiefs _ worried about their own fates in a post-Mugabe era _ quickly dug in their heels, and Mugabe now appears poised to do everything he can to extend his 28-year rule.

"There's a political hardening by the political elite of the ruling party," said Eldred Masunungure, a political analyst at the University of Zimbabwe. "They're in a panic mode."

Earlier, news of the opposition victory sent supporters into the streets, dancing, singing and waving the open hand that is the Movement for Democratic Change's symbol. The symbol of Mugabe's ZANU-PF is a clenched fist, and it didn't take long for it to show.

Though opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has promised Mugabe a peaceful retirement, fears of violence against government opponents have grown as security forces and ruling party thugs took to the streets in the days after the March 29 election.

It would not be the first time Mugabe resorted to violence to cling to power.

He had ruled his nation with little real challenge since 1980, when his guerrilla movement helped end white rule in Rhodesia and bring about an independent Zimbabwe. He was praised for his policies of racial reconciliation and economic growth, and for bringing education and health care to the masses.

Then a coalition of trade unionists _ backed by some wealthy white commercial farmers and their workers _ formed the Movement for Democratic Change which, along with civil rights groups, dealt Mugabe his first defeat at a 2000 referendum to entrench presidential powers.

Shocked, Mugabe responded by sending armed thugs, some veterans of the bush war for independence, into rural areas to seize white-owned farms and intimidate opposition supporters.

Though the farm seizures sparked an eventual economic collapse that has this former regional breadbasket dependent on international food aid, the ruling party won 2000 parliamentary elections. Similar campaigns of intimidation preceded ruling party victories in 2002 and 2005 elections, which international observers said were marred by serious irregularities, including outright rigging. Scores of Mugabe opponents were killed.

In contrast, the March 29 elections were relatively peaceful and, in a compromise with opposition leaders, the government posted results outside all the polling stations _ a move that made it more difficult to cheat.

Mugabe campaigned on his liberation credentials and land reform, blaming former colonizer Britain and the West for ruining the economy through sanctions. In fact, the sanctions only involve visa bans and frozen bank accounts for Mugabe and about 100 of his cronies.

After it became clear Mugabe did not win the most votes and was likely headed for a runoff with Tsvangirai, several people reported secret talks to usher the 84-year-old into a graceful retirement, though aides to Mugabe and Tsvangirai denied it.

Supporters of Tsvangirai, who said he won more than 50 percent of the vote and did not need a runoff, took to the streets in euphoria. Many hoped an end to Mugabe's rule would revive the economy, where inflation rages at more than 100,000 percent.

But eight days after the presidential vote, election officials still have not released the results, and the mood in the country has turned dark.

Riot police have flooded the streets, manned roadblocks, closed beer halls and ordered people to stay home at night. Intruders raided opposition offices, and police arrested foreign journalists. Feared war veterans _ used in the past to beat up opponents _ marched through downtown Harare.

"Mugabe has started a crackdown," warned Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the MDC.

Zimbabwean civic, church and human rights groups say they fear ruling party supporters will use violence to target election districts where Mugabe lost to ensure there is no repeat of those results in a runoff.

But Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga has dismissed the fears of violence as "a lot of nonsense."

On Sunday, white farmers said militant supporters of the ruling party had invaded eight of the few remaining white-owned commercial farms. Four cattle ranchers were driven off their land Saturday, and equipment and livestock were seized, the farmers said.

Later, police persuaded the militants to leave farms in southern Masvingo district, but even as that was happening two more farms were invaded in northern Centenary, the Commercial Farmers Union reported.

Senior officers and ruling party leaders appeared to be the driving force behind the campaign to keep Mugabe in power, said military analyst Martin Rupiya, a former lieutenant colonel in the Zimbabwean army now at the South African Institute for Strategic Studies.

Security chiefs and top party officials stand to lose multiple farms each has been given by Mugabe along with other patronage such as lucrative business and government contracts.

The MDC has said it was confident it would win a runoff. But many believe that Mugabe, backed into a corner, will find a way to stay in power.

The law requires a runoff within 21 days of the initial election, but diplomats in Harare and at the United Nations have said that Mugabe was planning to declare a 90-day delay to give security forces time to clamp down.

"We should distinguish wishful thinking from the reality on the ground," said Masunungure, the analyst. "Mugabe still has many tricks up his sleeve."
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Harper solemn, silent on visit to Auschwitz

Having been there I can say that silence is probably the only immediate genuine reaction: JCM

Harper solemn, silent on visit to Auschwitz

PM's trip to Poland included meeting with Lech Walesa

Mike Blanchfield, Canwest News Service

Published: Sunday, April 06, 2008

AUSCHWITZ, Poland -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper is no fan of small talk, and is said to like nothing better than spending time alone with a good book.

True to his nature, Harper paid his respects yesterday afternoon at the most infamous Nazi death camp in a manner that is becoming familiar to Canadians -- he did not utter a word about how it felt to visit Auschwitz, the place where Nazi Germany implemented its "final solution" with ruthless efficiency, killing about 1.5 million people, most of them Jews.

As he emerged from the small, dark red brick building that once housed an early version of the Nazi gas chambers and crematoriums, Harper took a pass on reflecting publicly on what the tour had meant to him, choosing to bypass the journalists who accompanied him here before heading off to the scene of the nearby Birkenau camp.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper pays his respects to Holocaust victims at the Death Wall Memorial while on a tour of Auschwitz, the camp in Poland where the Nazis implemented their "final solution."

But the prime minister did leave his impressions behind, handwritten in blue ink in a guest book kept by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

It read:

"We are witness here to the vestiges of unspeakable cruelty, horror and death. Let us never forget these things and work always to prevent their repetition.

"Lord, bless the souls of those who suffered and perished here, and deliver us from evil.

"Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, April 5, 2008"

Harper became the second Canadian prime minister after Jean Chrétien in 1999 to visit Auschwitz, one of the worst killing grounds of the Holocaust.

His visit yesterday was sombre and low key, in comparison with the tears and raw emotion of the Holocaust survivors and descendents who accompanied Chrétien.

"You don't know what to say. There is nothing you can say. You can only say you remember and it cannot happen again. We all have a collective responsibility to make sure it never happens again," Chrétien told reporters at the time.

Harper arrived under clear spring skies and walked slowly onto the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, accompanied by the museum's director, Piotr Cywinski, and Wladyslaw Lizon, president of the Polish Canadian Congress.

Harper chatted privately with the son-in-law of a Canadian Holocaust survivor.

The group made its way to a rear courtyard where the prime minister walked alone to the Death Wall Memorial, a grey slate monument in a section of the camp where several thousand people were executed by the SS, many of them Polish prisoners who tried to plot escapes.

Harper knelt alone at the foot of the wall for about 20 seconds before a floral wreath with "Canada" emblazoned in gold letters on a white ribbon. Visibly moved, Harper turned and walked slowly out of the courtyard, swallowing hard. He did not say a word before beginning a private tour of the grounds.