Scheer is correct: rights apply to all
Re Justin Trudeau had a choice on Khadr settlement, Opinion, July 26 In answer to federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s emotionally overwrought attack on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to make a payment to Omar Khadr in respect of the heinous behaviour of several Canadian governments responsible for his illegal incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, I can find agreement with one statement: “Principles are worth fighting for.”
Principles set out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms apply to all Canadians. That is indeed a principle worth fighting for.
Sadly, Mr. Scheer and his like-minded followers believe they have a right to apply those Charter rights selectively. This emotional response is the same as that exhibited by the government of the day’s delegitimization/incarceration of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, and the denial of entry to Jewish refugees prior to the war, to name just two examples of demonizing, hate-mongering behaviour of Canadian governments.
Nevertheless, there are many Canadians, I believe a majority, who reject that past behaviour and agree with the current government’s payment to Mr. Khadr.
Indeed, the former Conservative government led by Stephen Harper approved a similar payment to Maher Arar. I do not recall Mr. Scheer sanctioning interviews to discredit the Harper government with U.S. news outlets or writing columns to the Star to evoke hatred against Maher or Harper.
That he engages in this behaviour now reveals his need to mimic the political rants so disgraceful south of the border. It demonstrates that he will make self-serving political decisions that benefit only some Canadians, but not all.
Who is next to lose their Charter rights? Be careful, it could be you. Liz Iwata, Pickering Andrew Scheer says the Supreme Court ruled that Omar Khadr’s rights were violated and that the Conservatives recognized and accepted that finding.
His inconvenient truth is that the Supreme Court issued its finding in January 2010, and Khadr was repatriated in September 2012. It appears to have taken the Conservatives 2 1⁄ years to
2 accept the finding. Khadr then spent a further 2 1⁄ years in prison before being
2 finally released on bail in May 2015, after the government failed in a last-ditch attempt to deny bail.
Yes, the settlement was a Liberal decision. But the actions of the Conservative government were a large part of it. Cheryl Adams, Toronto Although Andrew Scheer has some counterpoints to the Omar Khadr debate worth discussing, he unfortunately leaves out one pressing detail to his entire argument: Khadr was a child soldier and his rights as a Canadian were violated, period.
No matter how much the Conservative Party spins this debate, it’s a strong and valid point that will always rise to the surface. Bobby Leeson, Brampton