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In a 2015 article, the Toronto Star reported that, in 1996, “after briefly returning to Canada, the [Khadr] family moves to Jalalabad in Taliban-controlled eastern Afghanistan, where they live in Osama bin Laden’s compound. The Khadr brothers begin attending weapons training camps affiliated with the Taliban and bin Laden. The family makes annual trips to Canada to raise money and collect supplies.” In 2002, the article continues, “two Afghan government soldiers are killed and several U.S. troops sustain injuries as coalition forces move in on Khadr’s compound. Khadr throws a grenade that kills U.S. Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer. Khadr is injured in the melee.”

Conversely, Khadr’s lawsuit claims that, during his detention at Guantanamo Bay, he was subjected to actions that constituted torture and violated his human rights. What Khadr did and what happened to him in the aftermath of his arrest should be fulsomely tried in a court of law. Canadians have every reason to ask themselves why Trudeau would offer Khadr such a generous payout before these processes had been completed.

It's impossible to say, at this stage, whether the civil suit would have necessarily led to a larger payout

One writer at the CBC suggested that Trudeau’s decision will save Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees, because Khadr’s suits are likely to be successful. While this is speculation, and not fact, it’s still difficult to justify the settlement on this basis. Trudeau has, after all, been successful in racking up billions of dollars in debt for any number of spurious projects in under two years. He’s hardly a spendthrift. In the enormity of the universe of Trudeau’s spending, how could he of all people be reluctant to spend a few extra taxpayer dollars to see the legal process through?