Of Omar Khadr and Embarrassing Regrets

Screencapture from the CBC story following the Harper Government's re-announcement that they plan to do a little less than ziltch for this Canadian being held in a US prison.

I get that sometimes it’s easier to forget the horrible mistakes we made.  For example, adding a competitive poutine-eating station into the outdoor skating rink obstacle course in first year university. It doesn’t take a physics major to know that puke and ice don’t mix.

But in the case of one of our country’s biggest poutine-overconsumption-esque boo-boos, the Canadian government has an obligation not only not to forget that it meekly stood by while a 15 year old citizen was unjustly incarcerated by the US government, but furthermore to fix the situation by now repatriating him, eight years later.

Instead, Harper and colleagues have chosen the path of least responsibility, the “Omar WHO??” defense. This is sad for myriad reasons, but obviously the main one is that it shirks a government’s obligation to defend and fight for the rights of its own citizens, particularly those who have not been proven guilty. For those of you unfamiliar with the debacle, a backgrounder by CBC is here.

This story of inaction resonates with me deeply. I’m the same age as Omar, I too was born in a Canadian hospital, raised in a Canadian city, and I too had some kooky parents that left something to be desired on the parenting file. My dad encouraged me to participate in soap box derbies down unsafely steep and often car-addled terrain. His dad encouraged him to consider terrorism as a future career.

The point is, we can’t blame people for their parents, especially as minors. It was wrong and the Canadian Government needs to fight to bring Khadr home.