A dialogue between a father and his four year old son,
by Adil Charkaoui (translated from French)*
 
- Daddy, daddy …
- Yes, little one.
- What are you wearing around your neck?
- Around my neck! Nothing.
- No - there!
- Ah! You mean around my ankle.
- That's the neck of the foot, the ank... ?
- Ankle.
-  But you haven't said what it is.

- Well, that, it's a bracelet.
- How long have you worn it?
- Three years.
- Why do you always wear it?
- Because i've got to, it's a present.
- Who gave it to you?
- It was tonton.
-  Which tonton?
-  Okay…it was uncle Sam…
-  Who is uncle Sam?
-  Really, you ask too many questions. It was somebody who gave it to me ...uncle Sam, uncle Stephen, uncle Security. It doesn't really matter, you don't know him.
-  Ok, but why is your bracelet black?
-  Because those who gave it to me have white faces but black hearts.
-  Why isn't it gold like Mommy's?
-  Because the people who gave it to me don't have golden hearts, little one.
-  But why are you the only one to wear it in Quebec, Daddy?

- Not for long, you should get used to it. Pretty soon it will become a fashion, like tatoos: everyone will have one. Already in cell phones, in cars, for workers, for daddys, for babies, for dogs ... Uncle Sam doesn't have a heart of gold, but he forgets no one.
 
* The author has been wearing a GPS tracking bracelet since his liberation on 18 February 2005. He also has to respect a long list of draconian conditions (curfew, mandatory accompaniment on all outings, ban on using all forms of communication, weekly visits to Immigration Canada offices…). Mr. Charkaoui has never been found guilty of any crime, nor has he ever been charged. The security certificate law, under which he was arrested, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in February 2007.