“My name is Mick Mallon. Like Mr. Abdelrazik, I am an immigrant to Canada. I became a Canadian citizen half a century ago. Most of that time I served Canada as a teacher in the Arctic, with a five-year interlude working for the Canadian International Development Agency in Sarawak, Malaysia. I am proud of the contribution I have made to Canada. In fact, that contribution will be recognised on May 15 of this year, when I am due to be invested into the Order of Canada. I have also, through the years, extended the pride I feel in being Irish by birth to include a growing pride in being a Canadian citizen. In the last few years, however, this pride has been eroded by a series of events. There have been the Maher Arar case, the killing of Robert Dziebkanski in Vancouver airport by the RCMP, made even more shameful by the clumsy and even vicious attempts at a coverup, and now the case of Mr. Abdelrazik. For a long period, I found the government's inconsistent statements to be not only meretricious but also inexplicable. However, I have also been reading in the British press about Binyam Mohamed, whose experience eerily echoes that of Mr. Abdelrazik, and the desperate attempts by the British government to prevent the facts of his betrayal from emerging. I now have a plausible explanation for the hitherto inexplicable actions of my own government. They will do anything they can, at the expense of justice, reason and credibility, to prevent Mr. Abdelrazik's return, because when he returns the truth may come out. On my last visit to Ottawa I went to the Embassy if Ireland and acquired an application form for an Irish passport.”
Mick Mallon, Iqaluit