Khadr payment sparks outrage

The Fourth of July is Independence Day in the United States. It was also on July 4 when it was reported the Liberal government had agreed to apologize and pay $10.5 million to Omar Khadr.

For those of you unfamiliar with Khadr, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison for participating in an al-Qaida-sponsored war crime after admitting to killing U.S. Army combat medic Sgt. Christopher Speer.

This decision to pay in excess of $10 million to Khadr has created the largest amount of negative feedback and, in many cases, outrage, of any issue I have come across during my time in elected office.

The questions I most frequently am asked is why did the Liberals offer this deal to Khadr and what can be done to stop it?

What we do know is that the Supreme Court was of the opinion that Khadr’s human rights were violated during the time he was in prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and that Canadians officials were aware of this.

It should be noted that the Supreme Court rulings on Khadr’s human rights violations did not include any financial compensation.

As a result, Khadr commenced legal action against the Canadian government, suggesting it should be held responsible for the treatment he received at Guantanamo.

Rather than vigorously fight this lawsuit, the Liberals have instead offered $10.5 million and an apology to Khadr to settle the legal claim.

In a related action, the widow of the U.S. Army Combat medic killed by Khadr filed a legal action in 2015 against Khadr and was ultimately successfully awarded $134.2-million in damages.

The widow is launching legal action in Canada in an effort to have the $134-million judgment enforced here.

So back to the original question, what can be done to stop this?

In this case, only the Liberal government could stop this agreement and related payment from going forward, but on Friday it was reported the payment had been made.

If the government had stopped the payout, the legal case would most certainly have continued.

Most of the documented involvement of Canadian officials was between the years 2003 and 2004 under the Liberal governments of former prime ministers Jean Chretien and later Paul Martin.

If this case were to move forward, it is conceivable the former actions of these governments would be heavily scrutinized.

I was a member of the Conservative caucus in the previous 41st Parliament where the Conservative government staunchly opposed the payment of any funds to Khadr.

It should also be pointed out that some do support the payment of these funds to Omar Khadr and have applauded the Liberals for offering a settlement as opposed to more litigation.

Do you support or oppose the $10.5-million payment to Omar Khadr?

I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll free at 1-800-665-8711.

Dan Albas is the Conservative member of Parliament for Central Okanagan Similkameen-Nicola.