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‘A test case in the indivisibility of Canadian citizenship’

Michael Ignatieff, scrumming with reporters on the Hill just now, on the government’s latest move in the Omar Khadr case.

They did the absolute minimum. In our view, they should have added a crucial additional fact in a diplomatic note, that he was a child soldier. That used to be what we were saying, the Liberal government said in 2004, the previous government, at least we pointed out that he was a child soldier. We’ve also said we think that this is a test case in the indivisibility of Canadian citizenship. Many Canadians, including myself, take a very serious view of the accusations against Mr. Khadr. But he’s a Canadian citizen and you don’t pick and choose here, you defend them all. Otherwise no one’s citizenship is worth very much. That’s the key issue. And we’ve said for 18 months, we should bring Mr. Khadr home and he should face whatever process needs to be faced here. He’s also done, what is it, seven years in the tank? And now he’s going to go to an American tribunal and there have been substantial questions about those tribunals raised inside the United States.

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