On Parliament Hill

Omar Khadr murdered US Army medic Christopher Speer. Now, after a ruling by the Supreme Court, the Trudeau Liberals have apologized to Khadr and made him a very rich man.

Khadr was born in Toronto but spent his early years moving back and forth between Canada and Pakistan, where his father engaged in terrorist activities with Al Qaeda co-founders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri – the mastermind of the 911 attacks. Khadr’s father moved the family to Afghanistan in 1996, where, after 911, Omar Khadr became involved with Al Qaeda’s Taliban fighters. In 2002 he was given special one on one weapons training. He also took to practicing beheading using his mother’s clothes.

On July 27th 2002, after a firefight, as US troops were surveying the battlefield, Khadr threw a grenade that killed Sargent Christopher Speer and permanently wounded another US soldier, Sargent Layne Morris.

After his capture, the Liberal Chretien Government sent a letter, stating that Canadian Law required special treatment of Khadr due to his age – he was 15 at the time – and requesting that the United States not transfer Khadr to Guantanamo. Khadr meanwhile had told interrogators that he was fighting a war for Islam against the United States and that he wanted to “kill lots of Americans and get lots of money” (there was a $1500 bounty on the lives of Coalition troops). He was sent to Gitmo.

The story of Omar Khadr’s time at Gitmo and the legal proceedings of his case are long and complex and would take up far more space and detail than I am afforded here. When Khadr was released in 2015 he filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Canadian Government for “violating his civil rights.” I am willing to concede that there are some legitimate grounds for complaint as to his treatment in custody. However, Conservatives believe that it is one thing to acknowledge alleged mistreatments, it is quite another to reward a convicted terrorist that murdered an allied soldier who had a wife and two children. In the past, the Government of Canada has acknowledged and apologized for cases where the accused was never convicted of terror related crime. This is not the case with Omar Khadr.

Mr. Khadr admitted that he was working with a terrorist organization that killed 24 Canadians on September 11th. He admitted to the murder of Speer and his plans to kill many more people through future terrorist actions. Mr. Khadr was convicted of those crimes. He is also a traitor to Canada. Now he has received an apology and $10.5 million from the Liberal Government of Canada.

By comparison, when a Canadian soldier is killed or injured in battle the government provides a lump sum payment up to a maximum of $360,000. Despite this, the current Liberal Government is willing to give $10.5 million to a convicted terrorist who actively sought to kill Canadian and allied soldiers. This is truly shameful.

What an insult to not only make Mrs. Speer and her children re-live the worst experience of their lives but to see the man who murdered their husband and father not only walk free but with $10.5 million and the contrition of this spineless Liberal Government.

Our previous Conservative Government brought in legislation that stripped terrorists of their Canadian citizenship. The Liberals repealed that law in 2016.

Not only is this apology and payment an egregious affront to our armed forces, Mrs. Speer and her family, Mr. Morris and his family, our American friends and allies, peaceful Muslims and decent people everywhere but in doing so the Trudeau Liberals have (effectively) retroactively funded terrorism with the hard earned tax dollars of Canadians.

To be clear: The Supreme Court of Canada did not instruct Justin Trudeau to give one cent to Omar Khadr. This was Justin Trudeau’s choice and he is responsible for the decision.

When asked by the media for an explanation of the Trudeau Government’s position, the Public Safety Minister doubled down on the decision by responding: “We have done absolutely the right thing for all the right reasons.”

In 2015, Mrs. Speer (and Mrs. Morris) brought and won a wrongful death suit against Khadr in US Court and were awarded damages of $134 million. In reaction to last Tuesday’s Supreme Court announcement Mrs. Speer’s lawyers filed an injunction to make sure Mr. Khadr didn’t profit from his crimes. Mr. Khadr has apologized to the families of the victims and claims he now rejects violent jihad. He says he wants a fresh start. Now that the court has ruled and the Government has paid out he has an opportunity to prove his contrition. I join with my fellow Conservatives in calling upon Omar Khadr to do the right thing; honour the US ruling and award those funds to the wives and children of these fallen heroes.