Jacquie

Here is a link to a long but very interesting article from the October 9 , 2016 edition of the New York Times entitled "How US Torture Left A Legacy of Damaged Minds". https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/world/cia-torture-guantanamo-bay.html

So add another ~$20M to fight the civil suit all the way to the Supreme Court where the Government would inevitably have lost and then pay another $20M on top of that for damages as well as additional money for Khadr's legal fees (the Government was ordered to pay his legal fees in at least one of the Supreme Court rulings so it would be likely he would be awarded them again with this suit). Personally I would rather that money be spent on things like healthcare, etc.

1) The Supreme Court of Canada did acknowledge that Khadr had been tortured. I posted earlier about the sleep deprivation technique (called the Frequent Flyer Program) that was used - Khadr was moved from cell to cell every 3 hours and this happened for 3 weeks. The Canadian officials knew about it before they interrogated him without counsel present. 2) The US Court didn't come up with the amount of the award in the civil case. Because it was a default judgment the Court award was what was asked for in the lawsuit. 3) Other countries have settled with their citizens who were held and tortured at Guantanamo Bay. From the National Post: http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/khadr-settlement-far-from-unprecedented-u-k-australia-made-similar-deals/wcm/b4779295-1f1e-41fe-8594-82136dd9a2e9 4) According to a book entitled Child Soldiers: A Reference Handbook by David M. Rosen Ph.D the al-Qaeda website praised Khadr's father for "tossing his little child in the furnace of the battle". That sure sounds like Khadr was acting voluntarily (sarcasm). As well, in a letter to the US military commissions, the UN secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict said Khadr represents the "classic child soldier narrative: recruited by unscrupulous groups to undertake actions at the bidding of adults to fight battles they barely understand." She also said the fact that Khadr was abused by his own father exacerbated the harm done to him. 5) Comments from Moazzam Begg who was at Bagram and Guantanamo at the same time as Khadr and saw how he was treated. Begg also describes what happened to him: http://globalnews.ca/news/3590844/omar-khadr-moazzam-begg/ 6) On August 20, 2002 (almost a month after he was captured), the Canadian government was informed by the US of Khadr’s capture and was asked to confirm his identity according to an Associated Press article.

You keep claiming there is no proof of torture yet Canadian officials acknowledged there was torture and it was specifically referenced by the Supreme Court of Canada. It's also well known that the Bush government condoned torture at US detention centres.

There are pages of discussion on this topic in the Random News Thread - no need for a new thread. 1) The Government was being sued for $20M and negotiated a settlement because there was no way they could win a civil suit that had Supreme Court decisions in the plaintiff's favour. 2) There is very little chance any of the settlement proceeds would have gone to the widow : 3) Khadr is appealing his conviction and given how many other convictions stemming from Gitmo have been overturned it is pretty likely his will be too.

It wasn't just one moron - it was a lot of morons.

For what it's worth, it was publicists for Cosby who talked about the town halls. Cosby himself said he wasn't doing any town hall meetings.

Dylan Ainsworth wears #99 and he's a LB. Maybe if he needed a replacement jersey during the game they might not have had time to add a name bar?

When did you live there? When I was a teenager I lived at RMNP (in staff housing) and went to school in Onanole and Erickson. I still know people who live in Erickson.

Did you read the article that was linked in that tweet? I don't think the person who sent out that tweet did since it says there was little chance of a Canadian court enforcing the judgment especially with the rulings by the Supreme Court. What law wasn't enforced? Seems to me the lawyers for the widow dropped the ball.

From the Child Soldiers Initiative website (this is an initiative organized by Romeo Dallaire whose opinion I value much more than anyone from the Conservative Party) : https://www.childsoldiers.org/

If Mark Harmon wants to watch me, I'm fine with that.

From the Toronto Star: From one of the Supreme Court's rulings (my mistake earlier - there were 3 rulings, not 2 in the case that went against the Government): From the CBC: Khadr has said he has memories of throwing the grenade but he doesn't know if they are his own memories or false memories from when he was tortured and interrogated. I accidentally deleted part of this post when trying to fix the quotes on my iPad so if I can remember the rest I'll post it in a new post.

He and his lawyer have both said he plead guilty to get out of Gitmo. He was the last prisoner and was getting no help from the Canadian government. He might still be there if he hadn't plead guilty. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled twice that the government violated the human rights of Khadr. They specifically mentioned Khadr being interrogated by government officials after he had been tortured (Supreme Court has ruled that sleep deprivation is a form of torture) and without legal representation. Again, there is no proof he was the person who threw the grenade. American soldiers who were there have said they don't know if it was him or someone else. If the Harper government had done what they were supposed to do and repatriated Khadr like every other government did then maybe Khadr's case wouldn't have gone to the Supreme Court and he wouldn't have sued for $20M. God knows how much the legal fees have been over the years the Harper government fought this case. We are likely getting off lighter with this settlement than if the court case had continued forward. Why would you want to apologize to people who tortured individuals and violated their human rights, that's your right.

From what I understand there is a deadline - 60 days after the draft.

Wonder if Gordon Sinclair will try to take credit for this one too.

From his radio show, Bo Levi Mitchell's interview with Matt Nichols: http://www.sportsnet.ca/960/the-big-show/bos-big-guest-bo-show-matt-nichols/

1) Next time the Government should do what they are supposed to do for Canadian citizens held by other governments. 2) There are a number of US soldiers who were there that have said they don't know if he threw the grenade and that it could have been someone else. 3) If you had been held at Gitmo for 10 years and the only way to get out was to plead guilty, would you do that?

And the response to Trump's tweet:

Nichols - QB sneak

My daughter gets Rent Assist and it's included in the $996 - it's not additional money.

Yes I'm talking about EIA. EIA is also for people with disabilities who need financial help - not just single parents or able bodied people with no source of income. Please tell me where all of this money you think the government hands out comes from. I would really like to know because my daughter isn't getting any it. BTW, huge tax breaks mean diddly squat to a disabled person on EIA since the Province claws back the entire amount of any income tax refund. I do think you are being quite overly optimistic to think you would have anything left over for leisure when you have to pay for everything else you need out of that $300.

Thanks for letting us know. Those sound great!!