Categories: Polls

Should Ottawa be doing more to bring Omar Khadr back to Canada?

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by macleans.ca on Monday, November 16, 2009 12:57pm - 131 Comments

noha

My understanding about CANADA was,,when i left my country that it's all about a human right , and everyone is treated right and fair,meaning it doesn;t matter if you were Muslim , CHristian or jews…RIch or Poor we all got treat equally the same,,why they dont look at Omer Khar like these teenager who killes each other and stabb each other dailly,,so those kids are send home and their face and name never get mentioned how fair. not only they aren't standing by Omer Khadr they won't give him the chance to come home.So they can judge for them self instead of others..that really made me think about CANADA 'S rulling on this matter…..after all he is muslim …………….

anonymous1

I agree. Individuals under 18 charged with murder or manslaughter sometimes don't get their face or name published and they killed someone! Who knows if they'll kill another person. Omar, on the other hand, hasn't killed anyone and he's forced to live through this nightmare?! What a disgrace the Canadian government is.

anonymous1

Bring Omar Khadr home! Ottawa should be ashamed for ignoring pleas for his return.

http://twitter.com/paellaconarroz @paellaconarroz

Oh no! Do you want yet another terrorist living in Canada?

shakela

HE WAS ONLY 15…….my gosh the guantanimo bay is a place for americans to torture muslims who are all supposedly accused of being terrorists….please i dont beleive the media or the bull they deliver…..he probably didnt even do nothing but they want him because he is arab…….
Disgusted Canadian

Please tell me who is footing the bill for for his legal expenses? If Canada is paying for his legal expenses could it not be said that Canada is funding terrorist activities? if any other group is footing the bill are they not supporting terrorist activities?

D. Williams

Dennis Edney is doing this case without charge. I am intrigued though, by the complete disgust of the idea of canadians footing the bill for his legal finances, as he has not been proven guilty of these charges. In fact, there are numerous reports that state that of the soldiers present in the firefight, none saw Omar throw the grenade that killed the american soldier. I am personally more disgusted by the fact child molestors, rapists, and serial killers who have been proven with mass amounts of evidencea gainst them can get free legal assistance and canadians are paying for it, when this mere child was in a life threatening situation and allegedly acted upon it. I am in no way saying that Omar is an innocent person, I am just judging this by the documents I have seen and the numerous discussions I have had with people involved in the case. I am making a statement as it is a canadians right for a fair trial and Omar has not been given his. I insist for those with the negative statements to do some serious research into this childs tribulations, as well as the numerous agreements canada has made against torture, look into the geneva contract, as well as the rights of canadian citizens and you will see that he has been denied his rights as a canadian citizen and more importantly a human being.
God Bless.
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Bill

Omar was out of the country because his family took him there before he was 16 yr old, so he had to go with them. (just as my 15 yr son had to come to canada with me).
Whatever he did when his group was attacked by the americans,he has the right to a fair trial,and not to be in gaol for 7 years. Nor to be tortured. Maybe under the Geneva convention what he did was self defense.
http://facebook Ahmad Kahil

i think he should be back as i am a close family friend with his broter abdulkarim khadr and have spoken to both brothers that are in jail abdula and omar khadr and are realy nice people i have know them since i was 6 and am now 14 .SCREW AMERICA AND BRING OMAR KHADR HOME
mona hill

Omar Khadr was a CHILD SOLDIER when he was taken to Guantanamo Bay by the American Military. Do NOT forget this fact.
BRING OMAR KHADR home to CANADA. Our current Government has had a history over the years it has been in power of ignoring, even taking all steps necessary to keep our own citizens, mostly those of foreign background (meaning of non white, christian status), in countries where they have been wrongly and unjustly imprisoned, often times tortured, and we have PROOF of those facts.
It makes me shamed to be a Canadian. BRING OMAR KHADR HOME!
Ruth McVeigh

As a Canadian, I believe a Canadian citizen – as Khadr is – has all the rights of citizenship.
Yes, he has been ACCUSED of a serious crime. As a Canadian citizen he is entitled to a fair trial.
There is photographic evidence to support the claim that he is innocent.
He was a child soldier and as such, has the protection of the Geneva code.
Yes, his family hates Canada. Are we all in danger of having to pay for the actions of our parents?
It almost seems to me that Harper and his cohorts have mounted a vendetta against Khadr who has already paid a heavy price. I want the good name of Canada restored.
http://intensedebate.com/people/RBinAlberta RBinAlberta

I am dissapointed in the wording and quantity of response options given on this question. It is reflects either careless journalism by Macleans or , worse still, an attempt to skew the results.

First, to address the question posed. Should Ottawa be doing more to bring Omar Khadr back to Canada? This is in my opinion a well worded question that has no obvious bias and lends itself to a Yes or No response. Good job.

My problem is with the options provided in the response column.

"YES – there's no reason to leave him in the U.S." Why has Macleans qualified this "YES" response? There are clearly many resons why Omar might be left in the US – to say there are none would be illogical. The question is are there good reasons? So long as there are more important and more compelling reasons to bring him back to Canada, then one would presumably vote YES to this poll. The qualified YES response distracts from the question and could be argued to disincline respondents from voting YES.

- to be continued -
http://intensedebate.com/people/RBinAlberta RBinAlberta

"NO – he's accused of a serious crime and has been treated fairly" Omar Khadr is undeniably accused of a serious crime – to disagree with this is also illogical. Unfortunately, this existence of serious charges does not speak to whether or not Omar can receive a fair hearing vis a vis his accusation in Guantanamo or a US based military tribunal. Strange that this turn of phrase (an almost verbatim mirroring of Conservative government press releases for several years now on the issue) appears as the bulk of the text qualifying the NO vote in the pole. Not to sound conspiratorial, but it is unfortunate that the "and has been treated fairly" (a much more important and controversial statement) appears in the second line of the NO vote qualification.

– to be continued -
http://intensedebate.com/people/RBinAlberta RBinAlberta

Lastly, the presence of the option "That's for the Supremet Court to decide." if closely examined will most certainly split the YES vote and dilute the YES results since there is no option to check two boxes. I cannot comment on whether this is sloppy polling or an intent to lead the results, but clearly there is no inconsistency between saying YES to Ottawa doing more to bring Omar back to Canda and YES to the Supreme Court deciding on the matter before it. Interesting enough, the Conservative government position is that they should NOT do more and that the Supreme Court should NOT decide on matters of foreign policy even if a citizen's rights have been ignored. There is only ONE possible response for an individual supporting the Conservative govenrment's position on this issue and yet there are TWO correct responses for those who disagree with the government.

– to be continued – last time!
http://intensedebate.com/people/RBinAlberta RBinAlberta

As I write this, 49% of respondents voted NO but 51% voted either YES or SUPREME COURT. Ironic, is it not?

Say what you will about the issue its merits, but I am confident that if this series of responses were presented to 100 statisticians it would get a 'Thumb's Down" from all 100 in terms of their likelihood of giving an accurate read on this issue.

Sloppy design or intent to direct the results – either way, I am disappointed in Macleans
Grayson

seriously? what next are we going to open our doors to the rest of the taliban? this "kid" is a terrorist. he committed a terrorist act towards another country. let them deal with him how they wish. this is not the statement id be willing to give the world stage as a canadian….go ahead and be a terrorist…when you get caught we will just bail you out. these are your sons, neighbors and family fighting overseas to keep you safe…and your more worried about protecting the very people they are trying to protect you from…a huge slap in the face…
Jonelel

It's so interesting how absolutely racist the commentors are on these Canadian news sites. We would not be having this same discussion if he were white. He would be home with his family years ago.

http://twitter.com/paellaconarroz @paellaconarroz

A terrorist is a terrorist, no matter what his colour.

Karine Thompson

It is sad to see so much hatred on this blog through teh commnets I've seen.
We never seem to learn from History. What happened to Japanese, Italians, and Chinese here in Canada should have been a lesson.
Now is the turn of Muslims and our Conservative government and mainstream Media are doing a good job to spread hatred towards Muslims.
I have many Muslim friends whom I respect very much.
To those of you who are parents what would your reaction be if your child was brainwashed at an early age? We see it happen here in Canada with prostitution so why do you have a tough time believing it can happen in armed conflicts? Romeo Dalliare who is respected military has certainly his facts straight and he supports bringing Omar home.
Elizabeth Block

I presume that the men who are being tried in federal court are there because the US gov’t has actual evidence and can get a conviction, while Omar Khadr is being tried in a military court because they couldn’t get a conviction in a real court. I understand that there is solid evidence to show that he is in fact not guilty.
Nelly

If you guys really think Omar Khadr should be locked up you have serious problems inside your brain. The guy was 15 when he was captured, 15. He was shot, there was no evidence that he threw the gernades. actually, by the wounds of the american soldier, it is proven that the gernades thrown that killed the american soldier were the gernades the americans were using. The kid has been locked up for over seven years, and they have tortured him consistently. The americans are pathetic and it is evil what they are doing. bring Omar to Canada, where he deserves to be. He did nothing wrong and even if he did (which he didn't) the americans are just as bad for what they are doing to the poor kid. FREE OMAR KHADR !!!
http://intensedebate.com/people/Naomi_Edmonton Naomi_Edmonton

It is so sad to see how intolerant and cruel people can be.
If this were a white Caucasian Canadian, there would be an uproar asking for his return. Why the double-standard? isn't this what happened to Japanese, Italinas and Chinese in this country? Are we that stupid to repeat history. It seems that now Mulsims are the "Black sheep" who are targetted.
SHAME on our government for letting Omar down. He was only 15, and I cannot imagine what he has endured all these years.
His life will never be the same.
Mel

Bring him home!!!!
I. Rabaa

She should be brought back to this country, his country. He's actually innocent of the crime he was accused of, but even if he wasn't, he was 15 years old: a child soldier. Child soldiers are judged differently!
Louise Visser

Confined to a solitary, cold, windowless, cement cell for six years, shackled to the floor and denied everything from reading material, pictures, to human contact except guards and lawyers. He has wounds, blind in one eye and has limited vision in the other and is exposed to painful flourescent light at all times. Interrogation has taken place in ways that no one should be subjected to. This was a 15 year old child soldier. He didn't legally or morally qualify for the treatment he has endured. I happen to know that he is not vengeful but rather is clinging to hope. With help he can recover. What if it was your or my son caught up in a movement at that age? Not impossible!
Melle Huizinga

We have a moral and legal obligation to support human rights. There are international laws on the threatment of child soldiers. Our government is diluting our standing in the world by not bringing Khadre home . Melle Huizinga
a senior

the next problem Canada will have is muslim extremist…look at europe…I am not prepared to have someone screaming for their rights when they are so against what Canada stands for…it is not for muslim extremists…..if you wish to fight for your old country…you are no longer welcome in Canada….If I could set a law…the first would be you automatically loose any rights of to be a Canadian….If you decide to go be a site seerer in a war torn country…you are not going to be bailed out …unless you are part of a Candian Government sponsered jobe.
http://twitter.com/veteraneh @veteraneh

With 69 of former Guantanamo detainees returning to terror upon their release, the Stephen Harper government must not expose Canadians to the risks and costs of increased Islamist terror in Canada. Where the rights of a refugee applicant conflict with the right of ordinary Canadians to live free of terror, it is the security of Canadians that must come first.
http://twitter.com/veteraneh @veteraneh

Soon after 9/11, Khadr was arrested along with terrorist forces on an Afghan battlefield, and is charged by American authorities with the unlawful killing of a young American soldier, and the maiming of another. He is awaiting trial at the military prison at Guatanamo Bay.