Chance of a Ghost

CBC NEWS SPECIALS
"Chance Of A Ghost"

Written by

Andy Byers

ACT ONE

Ext. – Evening. late autumn dusk in front of the Supreme Court Building, Ottawa

"CHANCE OF A GHOST"

JASON STANKOVIC

Good evening, and welcome to this very special presentation of CBC News. I’m Jason Stankovic; behind me, the Supreme Court Building in Ottawa, where sometime tomorrow, the highest court in the land is expected to release its decision on the status of revenant persons — or, as they’re more usually known, ghosts — in Canada. At stake, a number of issues, including political and property rights, legal rights and obligations, and a host of other contentious issues that have been in legal limbo across the country and around the world for years. The matter was fast-tracked to the Supreme Court by special request of the Speaker of the House of Commons on a procedural matter: does Alberta MP David Yaremko, who died in traffic accident last summer, have the right to continue to sit as the Member for Edmonton—St. Albert? With some background, here’s Jeanette Tremblay.

CUT TO:

Int. wood-paneled office.

Shot of David Yaremko, in life, looking at ease in his office, speaking breezily to someone off-screen.

JEANETTE TREMBLAY (V.O.)

David Yaremko was first elected to Parliament six years ago from the riding of Edmonton—St. Albert. Re-elected last year, he was a rising star in Conservative caucus until his death in a multiple-car pile-up on Alberta’s Highway 2 last June threw his political future into doubt.

CUT TO:

Ext. - Day side of a highway.

Police mill around several mangled cars. Roadside flairs can be seen.

JEANETTE TREMBLAY (V.O.) (Cont'd)

Just a few years ago, the accident would have put a tragic end to all things for Yaremko. But unique in Canadian political history, Yaremko experienced that recent and increasingly common phenomenon: he ‘survived’ his own death as a revenant… a ghost.

CUT TO:

Int. Parliament buildings.

David Yaremko, now translucent, is seen giving a press conference in the foyer of the House of Commons.

DAVID YAREMKO, MP

(voice slightly hollow, with a subtle echo)

For me, the bottom line is this. I was elected by the people of Edmonton-St. Albert to represent them. I took that oath in good faith, and regardless of the change in my physical appearance, I am still here and I feel bound by that oath. I mean to represent the people who sent me here to the best of my ability, so long as I am able and they continue to wish me to do so.

REPORTER (O.S.)

Mr. Yaremko, do you intend to run in the next federal election?

DAVID YAREMKO, MP

Well, the matter of my incumbency is still before the courts, unresolved, so I’d say it’s a little early to decide that. When the time comes to make a decision on that, I’ll be guided by the counsel of my family, my riding association, and my constituency.

CUT TO:

1. Ext. – Day. in front of the lawn on Parliament Hill.

Jeanette Tremblay is seen on the Hill in autumn clothing, holding a microphone.

JEANETTE TREMBLAY

With Parliament in extended summer recess pending the decision, the matter of whether or not David Yaremko has the right to sit in the House of Commons hasn’t come to a head. At least not here. Back in his home riding in Alberta, there is confusion as to whether or not a by-election needs to be held to replace Yaremko, or even if the Tories should replace him with another, living, candidate. Yaremko’s work on committees, his advocacy of his constituents’ issues, even his right to communicate as the Member for Edmonton-St. Albert: all these matters have yet to be decided. How the Constitution can, will, and should address these matters, and others, we will learn tomorrow when the Supreme Court announces its decision. Jeanette Tremblay, CBC News, Ottawa.

CUT TO:

Ext. – Evening. late autumn dusk in front of the Supreme Court Building, Ottawa

JASON STANKOVIC

Most viewers this evening can easily remember a time when ghosts were a matter of speculation, fiction, superstition, and dreams. All that changed not quite ten years ago when, for the first time, revenant persons began appearing and forming a part of our experience in the waking world. But how did it all get started? What changed? With a look back at the phenomenon, here’s a report by CBC reporter Shawn Mohsin.

CUT TO:

Ext. – Day. Street scene in Japan outside apartment building.

SERIES OF SHOTS:

1. People are wandering around. Shocked expressions.

2. Camera cranes up the front of the building to the balcony of what is presumably the crime scene.

SHAWN MOHSIN (V.O.)

It was a little over nine years ago when the first modern, documented case of revenancy, the survival of a human personality after physical death, occurred. It was here, in the Japanese city of Saitama, that 22-year-old Ishikawa Tenaka, appeared to her grieving family three days after her death in the very apartment in which she was found murdered.

CUT TO:

Int. Police interview room.

Grainy, high-contrast video of the ghost of Ishikawa Tenaka being interviewed by police detectives.

SHAWN MOHSIN (V.O.) (Cont'd)

The appearance of Ishikawa Tenaka made headlines around the world. She accused her landlord of murdering her when she refused to give in to his demands for sex in lieu of her rent payments. The man was charged and brought to trial within days. While the presiding judge ruled against Ishikawa giving direct testimony during the trial, he did, however, admit her statements to police into evidence, and these were instrumental in a verdict of guilty being reached against the accused.

CUT TO:

Int. – Day. A sunlit sitting room.

Tenaka is being interviewed by a camera crew.

SHAWN MOHSIN (V.O.) (Cont'd)

Skeptical scientists the world over deluged Japan in an attempt to prove her appearance was a hoax. She was denounced by some conservative religious figures as either a demon or an attempt to discredit long-standing orthodox doctrines. But it quickly became clear that Ishikawa was exactly what she appeared to be: the ghost of pleasant young woman whose physical life had been cut violently, tragically short.

SERIES OF SHOTS:

1. A series of rapid cuts show Tenaka waving to crowds…

2. Kneeling at prayer in a shrine…

3. Sitting by a river…

4. And seated with the Pope.

SHAWN MOHSIN (V.O.) (Cont'd)

Tenaka became a worldwide celebrity, an icon for people who had lost loved ones, and anyone who ever wondered about what happens to human beings after death. The Pope flew to Japan for an audience with her. Some of the same religious leaders who had dismissed her now proclaimed her a sign of the end times predicted in the Book of Revelation.

A shot of Tenaka’s family, tearfully addressing the press.

SHAWN MOHSIN (V.O.) (Cont'd)

Tenaka was last seen about five months after her death. After that, she disappeared and has not been heard from since. It is presumed that her spirit has dissipated, or moved on to whatever ultimately awaits us.

Several shots of other ghosts, first as photographed in life, then as seen after their deaths.

SHAWN MOHSIN (V.O.) (Cont'd)

But by then, other revenants began appearing elsewhere in the world. Within the first year of Tenaka’s appearance, hundreds of others. Within two years, thousands. Nine years later, by some estimates, some half a million revenants have been observed; there may be, or have been, many more. All of this has led to great upheavals in every society on the globe, causing thorny legal, practical, and religious issues that may take generations to iron out.

CUT TO:

Ext. – Day. A large, modern, institutional-looking building in Geneva.

Reporter Shawn Mohsin stands before the building, its impressive fountain and sculptures, addressing the camera.

SHAWN MOHSIN

But how did all this get started? Why are ghosts suddenly a reality, when for most of human history they were simply a rumour common to all cultures? These are questions being asked here, at the recently-inaugurated World Revenant Organization in Geneva.

CUT TO:

Int. an office inside the World Revenant Organization Building.

A scientist is addressing an off-screen reporter.

SHAWN MOHSIN (V.O.)

The theories range from the sublime to the absurd, running the gamut of scientific to religious and back again. Dr. Helena Fischer, a leading researcher into the question of how and why revenancy came about, spoke with us about the leading theories.

DR. HELENA FISCHER

(heavily German-accented speech)

Some of the more intriguing theories involve variations in solar radiation, or the Earth passing through the debris left by a comet’s tail. Some people have suggested it’s a new stage in human evolution. I’ve even heard people suggest that revenants have been with us all along, but that our world concepts prevented us from seeing or acknowledging them. Some Christian authorities have put forward the theory that the presence of revenant people means that Heaven and Hell are filling up, and that we are to understand this to signify the oncoming of Armageddon and the return of Christ.

SHAWN MOHSIN

Which theory do you favour personally?

DR. HELENA FISCHER

Quite frankly, I haven’t formed an opinion on the matter, though I tend to favour the scientific explanations. But so far, I haven’t seen anything I’d consider conclusive proof. Honestly, I don’t think anyone really knows yet why we are seeing people remain after death, or by what mechanism it occurs.

SHAWN MOHSIN

What do we know so far?

DR. HELENA FISCHER

We know that ghosts are real. They have form, intelligence, and the personality characteristics of the people they were in life. They have no mass, but they are capable of interacting with physical objects probably by means of learning to modulate their energy into fields that repel electrons. The mutual repulsion of electrons is really all there is to the solidity of ordinary matter. When a revenant person learns to master that skill, he or she is capable of moving, holding, and otherwise manipulating objects. We also know, though we’re not sure why, that revenant persons are somehow restrained from deliberately causing the living physical harm. We’ve had numerous instances in which revenants have accused and even harassed the living people responsible for their deaths, but no instances in which the deceased extracted a physical revenge.

SHAWN MOHSIN

Are there any indications why some people are becoming ghosts when they die when the vast majority of people don’t?

DR. HELENA FISCHER

Again, this is a matter of speculation. For the most part, revenation seems to occur, as it was often supposed in literature, when the deceased person had compelling unfinished business in life. Very often, this is as a result of homicide, and typically, the revenant person dissipates within a month or two of the resolution of whatever prompted them to remain in the world of the living in the first place. Single parents of very young children also seem more likely than average to be prone to revenation, continuing to exist until they see their children safely placed. But often, there seems to be no clear cause. The most notable example is Kyle Markley of the rock band Tremble Snake. He died of a drug overdose six years ago, but has not moved on. He simply seems, as they say, not ready to go. We’re also not sure why some revenations are of fairly short duration, a few months to a year, while others seem to persist year after year. The record right now is something like eight years, nine months, held by a revenant in India.

SHAWN MOHSIN

Is there any indication that revenancy might suddenly stop, disappearing as quickly as it began?

DR. HELENA FISCHER

Not if the numbers are any indication. Each year since it began, the frequency of revenancy has gone up, though it seems to be leveling off. Nine years ago, fewer than one person in 10,000 who died became a ghost. This year, the figure is approaching one in a hundred. Your own country now has a Member of Parliament in this position.

SHAWN MOHSIN

That would be David Yaremko. Do you feel he should be allowed to retain his seat?

DR. HELENA FISCHER

I don’t see why not. The people who elected him did so on the basis of what he knows and what he believes, not how he looked or what he could do with his body. All the things they elected him for still remain. If he wishes to continue to represent them, and they are happy for him to do so, then it ought to be so.

SHAWN MOHSIN

Dr. Fischer, thank you for speaking to us.

DR. HELENA FISCHER

You’re quite welcome.

CUT TO:

Ext. – Day. A large, modern, institutional-looking building in Geneva.

Reporter Shawn Mohsin stands before the building, its impressive fountain and sculptures, addressing the camera.

SHAWN MOHSIN

The people here at the World Revenant Organization will continue to ask the questions about revenancy, and to search for the answers. Meanwhile, in countries around the world, like Canada, answers to more practical questions about the place of ghosts in society are coming to a head. Shawn Mohsin, CBC News, Geneva, Switzerland.

CUT TO:

Ext. – Evening. late autumn dusk in front of the Supreme Court Building, Ottawa

JASON STANKOVIC

We’ll consider the legal issues at stake when we return after these messages. Stay with us.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO

Ext. – Evening. late autumn dusk in front of the Supreme Court Building, Ottawa

Jason Stankovic standing before the Supreme Court Building.

JASON STANKOVIC

Welcome back to our special presentation on the Supreme Court's pending decision on the rights of ghosts in Canada. Before the break, we examined the history of revenancy and the particular circumstance that has brought the question David Yaremko's place in Parliament to the doorstep of the Supreme Court. But there are other questions before the court to be settled. What are the rights of revenants in society, if any? Do they enjoy they same legal, constitutional, and human rights as they did in life, or do special and different rights apply to them, or are they outside of the law altogether? With a report on some of the other issues to be decided tomorrow, here's the CBC's Fred McNaulty.

Ext. - Day. Court building in New Brunswick

The flags of Canada and New Brunswick flap on poles outside an imposing court building.

FRED MCNAULTY (V.O.)

Businessman Marc Laval of Sackville, New Brunswick, spent forty years building up his lumber and construction supply business into a going concern worth over eight million dollars. When he died four years ago, his sons, Brian and Timothy, expected to inherit the business and divide it between them.

Intercut: Photographs of Marc Laval and his family from life.

FRED MCNAULTY (V.O.) (Cont'd)

But within days of his death, Marc Laval returned to his family as a ghost. He objected to his will being executed and having his property being dispersed. His sons contested that, saying that since their father was no longer alive and able to meet all the obligations of the business, that it was in the best interests of everyone that the will be executed. A judge agreed, and Marc Laval's lifetime of work was passed to others before his eyes.

Ext. - Night. Something like a dimly lit park bench in winter

MARC LAVAL

It breaks my heart that they could do this to me, their own father. I wouldn't mind if were gone or looking down from Heaven or something… but I'm still here. People can still see me and hear me. It's my business. I built it, and even if I don't have body, I still have a mind and a soul and I think what's mine is mine. I should still have some say. I'm a Korean War veteran. I thought I fought for something… the rights of people. Is this it?

Ext. - Day. Another court house.

FRED MCNAULTY (V.O.)

Meanwhile, right next door in the province of Quebec, an entirely different approach.

Intercut: Photos of Serge Plante and his family from life.

FRED MCNAULTY (V.O.) (Cont'd)

When Serge Plante of Val-d'Or died of a massive coronary two years ago, his wife became the sole beneficiary of all their property. Or so she thought. Serge filed suit to prevent his being disenfranchised of their joint estate on the basis of the legal definition of "death". His lawyers argued successfully that while he had suffered physical death of the body, he had not suffered the "cessation of being" used as the basis of other legal proceedings. Serge won his case. His wife of 37 years, Elaine, sued him for divorce, but ironically, her suit was dismissed on the basis that legally, the Plantes' marriage had ended at the time of Serge's physical death.

Ext. - Day. A pleasant garden foyer, open to the sky.

Serge Plante is being interviewed. He speaks French and his words are translated into English by a voice-over.

TRANSLATER VOICE-OVER

(translating the words of Serge Plante)

Nothing in all the years of my life hurt me as much as how my wife behaved after my heart stopped. If you'd told me, I would never have believed you. Not my Elaine, no. But when she saw me, she went into a rage and said I had come back to keep from her what was hers. Can you imagine? I became angry and fought for my rights. This is mine too, no matter what anyone says, till I'm finally gone. But to tell you honestly, I would much rather have gone straight on to God and whatever judgement, to be spared the pain of knowing how it really was with my Elaine and me. Much more pain than I felt when my heart stopped. That was just a few moments. This has been years. I hope no one else ever has to learn such things.

Ext. - Day. Outside the legislature in Victoria, British Columbia

Fred McNaulty addresses the camera as passers-by make their way through the background in front of the British Columbian Parliament Buildings.

FRED MCNAULTY

Across the country, a patchwork of legal opinions and decisions, enfranchising and disenfranchising the recently deceased who remain among the living. Those who support at least some property rights are Quebec, Newfoundland, and Alberta. But Saskatchewan and Ontario have come out against those same rights. Within provinces, conflicting opinions. Ontario does not support the rights of revenants to property or civil rights in the community, but at least three Native reserves in Ontario, the Six Nations, the Chippewas of the Thames, and the Asubpeeschoseewagong, have issued tribal council decrees embracing the rights of revenants on the reserves, at odds with provincial jurisprudence. And here, in British Columbia, conflicting decisions abound. Three months ago, a court here in Victoria held that revenants have a right to property acquired by legal means during natural life, but meanwhile, just across the Strait of Georgia in Vancouver, civil authorities last month refused a marriage license to a living woman and a revenant man partly on the basis of confusion over property rights.

Int. - Day. A university office.

A middle aged professor in a rather utilitarian office.

FRED MCNAULTY (V.O.)

We spoke with Professor Candice Montelli at Osgoode Hall in Toronto's York University about the matter of legal rights for revenants.

FRED MCNAULTY

Professor Montelli, why so many different decisions? Who's right?

PROF. CANDICE MONTELLI

Who's right depends on who you ask. Right now, the cases have gone no further than provincial courts. Part of the problem here is that marriage and property rights are a matter of civil law, and in Canada, civil law is a provincial jurisdiction.

FRED MCNAULTY

So every province can have a different law on the matter.

PROF. CANDICE MONTELLI

Well, yes and no. Civil law is provincial, yes. Nine of the provinces and all three territories have civil law systems based on English common law; Quebec is the exception. Its civil law is based on the Code Civil that it has in common with most countries of continental Europe. It's fine for provinces within Canada to have differences of opinion on matters of civil law; it happens all the time. But this matter touches on human rights, whose roots are ultimately federal, vested in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and determined in the Supreme Court. See, these decisions are being made not so much on points of law as on what, exactly, it is to be human. That's a federal matter superseding anything the provinces decide.

FRED MCNAULTY

So when the Supreme Court rules on the matter…

PROF. CANDICE MONTELLI

It will be binding on all the courts in the country, federal and provincial. Whatever they decide will set the standard for how rights are allocated to revenants across the country.

FRED MCNAULTY

Do you feel that the Supreme Court ought to rule on the side of the revenants?

PROF. CANDICE MONTELLI

Well… it's not an easy question. But I feel that society will be better serviced by a certainty in how the law is applied, and that inclusion is always better than exclusion. I think for myself that if I were to wake up one morning and find I were a revenant, I would like to know that at least the same rights, privileges, and obligations still applied to me as they had the night before. People are people, regardless of whether you can see through them or not.

CUT TO:

Ext. - Day. A bright, wind-blown day on a university campus

Professor Scott Macgregor, a thin, elderly man with an athletic wiriness and sparse, white, fly-away hair addresses the camera with a certain bonhomie.

FRED MCNAULTY (V.O.)

But at Dalhousie Law School in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Professor Scott Macgregor expresses other concerns.

PROF. SCOTT MACGREGOR

There's a natural inclination in Western society these days to be inclusive. And that's a good thing where it makes sense, where there's a one-to-one relationship. Any two living human beings on Earth are going to have similar needs and somewhat similar expectations of life. We have deficiencies and liabilities in common. These keep us in check.

FRED MCNAULTY

What exactly do you mean, Professor?

PROF. SCOTT MACGREGOR

Well, take for example the idea of a ghost — or pardon me, a revenant — taking the stand in murder trial. In some cases, at least in other countries, someone's life could be on the line. Ordinarily, people are compelled to tell the truth by laws against perjury. But how do you compel someone to obey the law if there's no way to imprison them? So you apply a fine… and if they don't pay? It all comes back to depriving someone of his or her liberty, and so far, no one has ever come up with a way of 'locking up' someone with no body. They just pass through the bars; walk through the walls. So what's to stop them from saying whatever they please on the stand?

FRED MCNAULTY

Obviously there are differences of opinion about this…

PROF. SCOTT MACGREGOR

Oh, absolutely. Particularly in the United States. In Alabama, for instance, a revenant can be called to testify on the stand. In the next state over, Mississippi, they can't, because the courts there have ruled that the nature of revenancy puts them outside the ordinary compulsions of the law, so they're ineligible. Texas and Oregon have both ruled that revenants can testify only in cases directly related to their own demises… effectively, trials concerning their own murders.

FRED MCNAULTY

Have any of those cases made it to the US Supreme Court yet?

PROF. SCOTT MACGREGOR

They're percolating their way up… but it still remains to be seen if the US Supreme Court will even agree to hear any appeals. This is something they may see as a state issue. Law in the United States is generally more effusive than it is in Canada.

FRED MCNAULTY

Professor, how do you feel the Canadian Supreme Court should rule on this matter?

PROF. SCOTT MACGREGOR

I'd err on the side of caution. People have lived natural lives for millions of years and when it's time to go, it's time to go. No one knows why that's changed, but the fundamentals remain. There's a natural rhythm to the cycles of life. When we've reached the end of life, as demonstrated by the shedding of our material bodies, then it stands to reasons we also cast off our need for shelter, food, and material possessions. Those things ought to accrue to the living. Take wills, for example. If the court decides that a will cannot be probated until the dissolution of a ghost, how are we to know when that happens? Generally, when a person dies, we have proof in the form of a body. But what proof do we have when a revenant passes on or dissipates? All we have is silence, absence. There are no criteria available to us for deciding when is the right time to disperse a person's worldly possessions… except for physical death. That ought to be where rights cease.

CUT TO:

Int. - Day. A different office.

A different professor sits across from Fred McNaulty, both of them on camera together.

FRED MCNAULTY (v.o.)

But right at the same university, ethicist Tabitha Cho feels the urge to limit rights is short-sighted.

FRED MCNAULTY

Professor Cho, some people we've spoken to feel that rights end with the biological death of the person. Do you see it that way?

PROF. TABITHA CHO

No. I've heard those arguments and I understand the basis for them… they grease the wheels of situations that are pretty sticky and outside our experience till pretty recently. But I think they overlook a very real consideration. This is potentially in the future of any one of us. If we discriminate against revenants, we're potentially discriminating against ourselves. It's a new facet of discrimination in the law and we should have nothing to do with it.

FRED MCNAULTY

What do you mean by "new"?

PROF. TABITHA CHO

Well, when you think of traditional forms of discrimination, they were based on exclusion. One group as opposed to another. You're white; you'll never be Asian. I'm Asian; I'll never be black. You're a man, I'm a woman. Gender reassignment surgery aside, that's not something that generally changes. And so for most of history, discrimination was exercised by those in power out of the confidence that they would never realistically be in the position of the oppressed. But this is different. To be born is to die, sooner or later. Every one of us faces this as a possible eventuality… it's now a facet of our own mortality. And if not you or me, someone we love and care about. Our parents, our siblings, our children, our friends. Sooner or later it's bound to be someone we know, not just some stranger. The numbers indicate that nearly a percent of all the people dying today persist as ghosts. That's hundreds of thousands, even millions over the next coming decades, assuming the situation is constant.

FRED MCNAULTY

So you're saying "ask not for whom the bell tolls…"

PROF. TABITHA CHO

It was never more apt.

CUT TO:

Ext. - Day. Outside the legislature in Victoria, British Columbia

Fred McNaulty in front of the legislature, addressing the camera.

FRED MCNAULTY

Somewhere in the neighbourhood of a quarter of a million Canadians die every year. Do the math. That's roughly 2500 revenants across the country, each and every year. Some will persist only a few months, many for years. Exactly what the potential 'life span' of a revenant is, no one yet knows; it's possible it may be decades, perhaps even centuries, if there's anything to the old folklore about hauntings. So it seems very clear that this will be a growing problem for this country and every country until politicians like those here in the B.C. legislature, and jurists like those in the Supreme Court, give shape and direction to policy on revency. Fred McNaulty, CBC News, Victoria.

CUT TO:

Ext. – Evening. late autumn dusk in front of the Supreme Court Building, Ottawa

Jason Stankovic, in the company of two other people, addresses the camera.

JASON STANKOVIC

With me are Jack Middleton of our legal desk and Susan Buckminster of our social affairs bureau. We’ll be back to reflect on what you've just heard and discuss the likely outcome of tomorrow's decision when we return. Please stay with us.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT TWO

ACT THREE

Ext. – Evening. late autumn dusk in front of the Supreme Court Building, Ottawa

Jason Stankovic standing before the Supreme Court Building accompanied by Jack Middleton and Susan Buckminster.

JASON STANKOVIC

Welcome back to our special presentation, "Chance of a Ghost". With me are Susan Buckminster and Jack Middleton. Jack, you've been following David Yaremko's bid to hold onto his seat in the Commons pretty closely. Given what you've heard in the halls of power, what's your take on his chances tomorrow?

JACK MIDDLETON

I think they're good, Jason. I think that basically, the court will come down on the side of expanding Charter rights rather than limiting them. That's been the trend of the court pretty much since the Charter was adopted in 1982. A policy of inclusivity would take a lot of the guesswork out of how to proceed from here, because all the decisions have long ago been made. If the court decides that the Charter and other rights and laws don't apply to revenants, then they're opening the country up to years of legal wrangling in uncharted waters. If for no other reason than it's safer and easier to simply bring revenants under the umbrella of existing law, I think the court will decide in David Yaremko's favour.

JASON STANKOVIC

Susan, you've been reporting on the social implications of revenancy for years. What's at stake if the court rules against David Yaremko?

SUSAN BUCKMINSTER

If the court decides against the extension of human rights to David Yaremko tomorrow, it has a host of implications for cases that are still pending a final outcome all over the country. If human, civil, and legal rights end with the death of body, that puts an entire class of beings outside of Canadian law and legal protection. There are numerous cases of types already discussed on the program this evening… property rights, political rights, marital rights, and so on. But they go beyond that to the very basis of what it is to be human. There are cases before the courts now having to do with parental access to children, rights to education and access to social services, rights to work-related benefits and to the jobs themselves, even the basic right to be heard before the courts or other tribunals. What the Supreme Court decides tomorrow affects people, living and dead, far beyond David Yaremko. It potentially affects every one of us when we die.

JASON STANKOVIC

Jack, back to you. What's the wider significance of tomorrow's decision?

JACK MIDDLETON

Well, you've probably heard it said by now, Jason, but it bears repeating: because David Yaremko's case has fast-tracked the issue in here, Canada stands to be one of the first major common law jurisdictions to issue a top-level legal decision on the matter. Now that decision isn't binding on any other country, of course, but common law countries tend to look to one another when a precedent is set. Initial precedent tends to be persuasive in these matters. What's decided here tomorrow will almost certainly figure in the arguments presented in courts far beyond our borders in countries will legal systems like our own. As well, countries with constitutions like ours, with embedded bills of rights in them, will also be looking to tomorrow's decision for hints on how to proceed.

JASON STANKOVIC

Okay, in summing up, quick predictions. Susan, what's going to happen tomorrow?

SUSAN BUCKMINSTER

The court will decide to extend Charter rights beyond the realm of biological life to revenants and clear up a lot of the confusion due to different interpretations from different provinces.

JASON STANKOVIC

Thanks, Susan. Jack?

JACK MIDDLETON

I agree; I think the court will extend rights, where applicable. I don't think the court's going to agree, like in The Life of Brian, that a man has the right to have a baby; the rights it extends are going to be ones that make practical sense. I don't think it's going to be a simple blanket answer. There are still going to be some issues that need to be worked out. But on the whole, I think most rights will be extended to revenant citizens of Canada.

Jason begins to take a few steps to stage right, followed by the panning of the camera. He stands next to the ghost of David Yaremko, MP, who has apparently been waiting off-camera.

JASON STANKOVIC

Jack, Susan, thanks for sharing your expertise and your opinions with us tonight. And now before we go, the last word goes to the person at the centre of all this, David Yaremko, the Member of Parliament for Edmonton-St. Albert. Mr. Yaremko, thank you for joining us this evening.

DAVID YAREMKO, MP

Thanks for having me on tonight, Jason. I guess I look a little different from the last time we spoke.

JASON STANKOVIC

Well, yes, that's certainly true. How have the last several months been for you personally?

DAVID YAREMKO, MP

Well, as you can imagine, it's been a big adjustment. My family has had to come to terms with all this, but they've handled it well. It's been tough on me personally too, of course. I've only just learned how to hold objects again in the last month or so. It's funny how much you take for granted and how much a triumph even the little things are. I guess I understand better now how people who've had accidents and have to learn to walk again feel.

JASON STANKOVIC

Was it a tough decision for you to take all this on after the accident?

DAVID YAREMKO, MP

No, not at all, Jason. You know… I always said I would love this country till I day I died, and, well… I never imagined I'd get the chance to say "and beyond" and mean it. But I do. I still love this land with everything I am. I swore an oath to the Crown and the people of Canada to serve them and the people who elected me, and I mean to do exactly that for as long as I am able. And if the people decide differently in the next election, it goes without saying that I'll abide by that, of course. But all I'm asking for is the right to try, like anyone else. Everything they really voted for, I still am, and I will serve them to the very best of my abilities.

JASON STANKOVIC

So you're clearly confident in your ability to do so.

DAVID YAREMKO, MP

There's no question in my mind, Jason. Absolutely none. My family is behind me, the support we've gotten from the people of Edmonton and Alberta and all across Canada has been overwhelming, and I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone out there who's written or phoned to encourage us. I want to say that I'm doing this for you too. This isn't just about one person's right to sit in the Commons. It's about the right of every one of us to be and feel human even after the most profound of life-altering experiences. I don't know how long I'll be here, but then who does? But as long as I am here, I'll be serving the people in whatever capacity I can.

JASON STANKOVIC

In winding up, do you feel confident about the court's decision tomorrow?

DAVID YAREMKO, MP

There were strong arguments made on both sides of the issue. But I feel — I'm sure — that our arguments were stronger and more persuasive, because we have fundamental justice on our side. You'll see due process served tomorrow, Jason, I'm sure. God willing, I will still be the Member for Edmonton-St. Albert at this time tomorrow.

JASON STANKOVIC

Thank you for talking with us, Mr. Yaremko. I'm sure I speak for everyone in the country when I say I admire your courage in the face of all you've had to endure, and in wishing you the very best of luck tomorrow.

DAVID YAREMKO, MP

Thank you, Jason.

JASON STANKOVIC

And that's it for our decision-eve special on tomorrow's Supreme Court decision on the rights of revenants in Canada. Tune in tomorrow for full coverage of that decision, which is expected at about 11 a.m. Eastern time. Coverage on most of these stations will begin at 7 a.m. in British Columbia, 8 in Alberta, 9 across the Prairies, 10 in Ontario and Quebec, 11 in the Maritimes, and 11:30 in Newfoundland. From the grounds of the Supreme Court Building in Ottawa, thanks for being with us this evening. For CBC News, I'm Jason Stankovic. Good night.

credits roll over shot of supreme court building.

THE END