What have we learned from Shafia honour killings?

Canada is awash in laws, rules, regulations, conventions and customs designed to protect people. These protections define our democracy. Individual freedom is constitutionally enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms:

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.(Charter)

It sounds good on paper. Yet, all these ‘paper protections’ did not save Zainab, Sahar, and Geeti Shafia and Rona Amir, from execution by three family members. How could it have happened, given the many warning signs and the appeals for help from the victims to confidants, social agencies, teachers and police officers? I discussed this catastrophic, system failure with Dave Rutherford, on his radio show on QR77 Calgary.  Here’s the complete interview: