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OTTAWA — Relatives of a Canadian man slain by militants in the Philippines say they agree with Canada’s policy of not paying ransom for hostages.

Robert Hall had been held hostage by Abu Sayyaf since September 2015 and was killed earlier this week after a deadline for a ransom payment passed.

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In a statement distributed by the press gallery in Ottawa, Hall’s family says every option to free him was considered and efforts to that end were “vast and exhaustive.”

In the end, the family says it agrees with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s directive that money not be paid to hostage takers who seek to undermine fundamental Canadian values.

“Our family, even in our darkest hour, agrees wholeheartedly with Canada’s policy of not paying ransom to those who would seek to undermine the fundamental values with which my father lived his life,” the statement reads.

“We stand with the ideals that built this country: strength of character; resilience of spirit; and refusal to succumb to the demands of the wretched, in order to satisfy the bloodlust of the weak.”