If humanity has learned anything from the horrors of the war against terror, it is that our one hope is democracy. The final goal of our country’s actions at home and abroad is the preservation of democracy. This is the lens through which our policies should be discerned, dissected, and amended.

Borovoy argues that Canada has pursued an ethically cockeyed war against terror. We have been needlessly dovish abroad and excessively hawkish at home. In order to use military force abroad, the government fussed over the need for UN approval. At home, however, there are no such restraints: without even asking a court, the government may effectively deprive certain perople of the right to make a living. As the author summrizes: "Internationally, key fallacies stem from an undue respect for a rule of law that does not exist. Domestically, key fallacies stem from an undue neglect of a rule of law that does exist."

A. Alan Borovoy is general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and former director of the Labour Committee of Human Rights. The holder of four honorary doctorates, Borovoy was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1982. This is his fourth book; his first, When Freedoms Collide, was nominated for a Governor General's award in 1989.

A. Alan Borovoy's profile page

"The first sentence alone should be enough to make people pay attention: 'This book is dedicated to the memory of North America's tough-minded democratic Left.'"

Georgia Straight

"Categorically Incorrect, exposes ethical fallacies in policy-making, both at home and elsewhere, in Canada's war on terror."

Weekend Post

"... advances the view that Canada has been 'needlessly dovish abroad and excessively hawkish at home.'"

Toronto Sun