Omar Khadr – mackaycartoons

Wednesday July 19, 2017

July 18, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 19, 2017

Justin Trudeau offers strongest defence yet of Omar Khadr settlement

Justin Trudeau offered his strongest defence yet of his government’s $10.5-million settlement with Omar Khadr on Saturday, saying he hopes it serves as an example to future governments.

July 6, 2017

“When governments violate Canadians’ fundamental rights, there have to be consequences and we hope that the message going forward to all future governments is: you can not ignore or be complicit in the violation of Canadians fundamental rights, regardless of what they did,” said Trudeau.

The prime minister spoke at the Indian Village on the Calgary Stampede grounds, initially reiterating what he’s been saying for the past few days: he understands why people are frustrated but he thinks the government would have lost the case to Khadr if they had fought in court, and it would have cost between $30-40 million in the process. Trudeau then went on to offer the more strident human rights defence.

October 2, 2012

Trudeau spent the day in Calgary, attending two pancake breakfasts in the morning before visiting the Indian Village in the afternoon and rounding off the day at the rodeo.

He’s faced widespread criticism over the past few days over the Khadr payment. Khadr fought against coalition forces in Afghanistan as a 15 year old, before being sent to Guantanamo Bay where he was repeatedly tortured. (Source: Calgary Herald)

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Thursday July 6, 2017

July 5, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 6, 2017

‘Odious’ or overdue: Reports of Omar Khadr settlement draw sharply different reactions

A case that has divided Canadians for nearly 15 years continued to do so Tuesday as news leaked that Ottawa would apologize to Omar Khadr and offer a settlement of more than $10 million for the abuse he endured while in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

The vitriol was most intense among fringe commentators on the far right and left, but the issue quickly drew political reactions from across the spectrum, with former members of the Harper administration taking to Twitter and other social media to weigh in.

“Odious,” wrote former Conservative defence minister Jason Kenney, now leader of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party, on Twitter. “Confessed terrorist who assembled & planted the same kind of IED (improvised explosive device) that killed 97 Canadians to be given $10-million.”

Others praised the government apology as long overdue. “Finally we have seen the light!” wrote Shelly Whitman, executive director of the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative.

While Khadr’s case has always elicited a vigorous debate, news of the settlement triggered extreme commentary Tuesday, including calls on social media for Khadr’s murder and the deaths of the journalists reporting the story, or of advocates who support a government apology. (Continued: Toronto Star)

Tuesday May 12, 2015

May 11, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 12, 2015

Green party Leader May “very apologetic” about Omar Khadr remarks

Green party Leader Elizabeth May says she is “very apologetic” about remarks she made on the weekend that included profanity and insulted the federal cabinet about how it has treated Omar Khadr.

May was among party leaders who addressed Parliament Hill journalists and politicians on Saturday night at their annual press gallery dinner.

Usually, party leaders deliver light-hearted, mainly self-deprecating speeches that include the odd barb thrown at the media.

But May went on at length about being the only female leader and having to claw her way into televised leaders’ debates.

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt intervened and attempted to persuade May to end her speech, but instead, May played a recording of “Welcome back Kotter” — a theme song from a 1970s sitcom — and stated that Khadr has “more class than the whole f—ing cabinet.”

In a phone interview on Sunday, a hoarse May expressed her regrets for her taste in jokes, her lack of respect for her parliamentary colleagues and her choice of language.

“I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was less than respectful for the people with whom I work,” May said.

“I apologize that I made an attempt to be funny and edgy….and it didn’t work.”

May said she was just getting over the flu, had put in a 21-hour work day on Friday, and then had to rise early in British Columbia on Saturday morning to make it to the press gallery event in Gatineau, Que.

“My funny speech wasn’t funny. That’s not the first time a politician has done that.”

In the Khadr section of her speech, May said she meant to make the point that Canada is a country that gives people second chances, and that she hopes Canadians welcome him into their midst. (Source: CP)

Letter to the Editor (Hamilton Spectator, Saturday May 16, 2015)

May got a free pass from media

Why does Green party leader Elizabeth May get a free pass on her disgraceful behaviour spiced up with her moronic profanity-laced comparison of Stephen Harper’s cabinet and convicted killer Omar Khadr when she defended Khadr at the Press Gallery Dinner?

This inebriated outburst shows who and what Elizabeth May really is and she should do the honourable thing and step down, as this conduct is totally unbecoming of a national political party leader.

This will be yet another prime example of how the left-leaning press gives their free passes for their far left political party leaders and will let her off with her half-hearted apology when she sobered up.

If this had been Harper or a high-ranking Conservative. the news media would be screaming for their resignation. But I do have to admit Graeme MacKay’s cartoon depiction of May was a classic.

Doug Wadel, Dunnville

Friday May 8, 2015

May 7, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 8, 2015

Omar Khadr walks free on bail after 13 years in custody

With those words, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Myra Bielby turned down the federal government’s last-ditch effort Thursday to keep the 28-year-old detained.

Omar Khadr broke into a big, wide smile when the decision was read. His supporters in the courtroom erupted in cheers.

At 2:03 p.m. Toronto time, his lawyer Nathan Whitling posted a picture on Twitter of Khadr walking out of the courtroom with the caption: “#omarkhadr walks free.” The burly young man wore sneakers, jeans and a black T-shirt with his other lawyer, Dennis Edney, flanking him.

“Whatever anybody might think of Mr. Khadr he has now served his time.”

Bielby had heard arguments in the case Tuesday but said she could not rule immediately and granted the government a 48-hour stay in the bail order.

Her decision to turn down the government’s emergency motion cannot be appealed, but Ottawa will appeal the bail order itself, which was granted in March by Justice June Ross.

No date has been set yet for that appeal and Khadr is free on bail until the case works its way through the appeal court.

“We are disappointed by the decision of the court, because we feel that victims should be considered in the decisions,” Public Safety Minster Steven Blaney said at a press conference. Blaney said legal procedures against Khadr are “still underway” but he would not comment on whether the case will go to the Supreme Court.

In an earlier statement, Blaney also said: “Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to heinous crimes, including the murder of American Army medic Sergeant Christopher Speer. By his own admission, as reported in the media, his ideology has not changed. (Source: Toronto Star)

Tuesday October 2, 2012

October 2, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 2, 2012

The U.S. dumps a problem on Ottawa, with Omar Khadr’s return

For the Conservatives, Omar Khadr was an opportunity. Now he’s just a problem.

Mr. Khadr has finally returned to Canada, to serve out the remainder of his sentence for crimes committed against the United States in Afghanistan. Stephen Harper’s Conservative government had done everything in its legal power, short of a diplomatic breach with the U.S. government, to keep him interned at Guantanamo Bay, America’s problem.

But those efforts ran out, and now Mr. Khadr is coming home, where he will earn more than his share of unwelcome attention.

When Mr. Khadr was first apprehended on an Afghanistan battlefield by American forces and sent to Guantanamo, the Liberal government of the day treated him like the embarrassment he was. Foreign and Justice ministers spoke about him only when pressed, and then only in the most guarded of sentences. Ottawa was happy to let the Americans prosecute his crimes.

The Conservatives were less circumspect. Mr. Khadr was a wedge, one they were happy to exploit.

Human rights advocates saw Mr. Khadr not as a criminal or terrorist, but as a victim. At worst, he was a young offender, duped by his family into joining a war he was too immature to comprehend.

He was, in their eyes, a child soldier, no more complicit than the children impressed into the armies of African warlords. And his detention at Guantanamo was part and parcel of the Bush government’s abusive war against terrorists.

Conservatives have no truck with such talk; nor, they believe, do most Canadians, especially those Canadians inclined to vote Conservative. (Source: Globe & Mail)