Alberta’s premier is refusing to take sides in the debate over the Trudeau government’s controversial payment to Omar Khadr.
Following an address to the Stampede Investment Forum in Calgary on Tuesday, Rachel Notley was asked what she thought about the reported $10.5 million payout to the former Guantanamo Bay prisoner.
Notley said she hasn’t seen the legal advice and internal documents presented to the federal government.
“I can’t really get into it in great detail because I haven’t had that information presented to me. I think, generally speaking, we are a country that respects the rule of law and from all perspectives and you need to navigate that in a way that best represents all of your citizens,” Notley said.
“It’s a matter that relates to federal conduct.”
Khadr, a Canadian citizen, spent 10 years in Guantanamo Bay and pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. He was 15 when the firefight in which the soldier died occurred. He is now appealing that conviction.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2010 that Khadr was mistreated while in prison, and he later filed a $20 million civil suit against the Canadian government. Earlier this month the Liberal government apologized and reached the settlement with Khadr.
An Angus Reid poll this week shows more than 70 per cent of Canadians oppose the payout.
Also on Tuesday, Notley expressed her disappointment that there’s been another resignation from the panel hearing the missing and murdered indigenous women’s inquiry.
Notley said Alberta was one of the first province’s to press for an inquiry and she hopes the federal government will get it back on track.
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