After the Conservatives launched a fierce PR campaign against the Liberal government’s reported $10.5 million settlement with former Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr, advocacy group Leadnow decided to launch its own online campaign to press the counter-argument.

The ‘I stand with Omar Khadr’ campaign, which national organizer Jolan Bailey said was launched Thursday, aims to collect 24,000 signatures. According to the website for the campaign, when it reaches the 20,000-signature mark the group will deliver the petition to Khadr, “to let him know that there’s a groundswell of support behind him.”

So far, 17, 981 people have signed the petition of support. Bailey told iPolitics in an email that organizers have been “blown away” by how quickly the campaign has grown.

The online campaign states that the Conservatives launched “an all-out campaign to attack Omar Khadr and the Liberals’ compensation package for violating his Charter rights and letting him languish in an offshore prison camp where he was tortured for over a decade.”

“Let’s be clear: This Conservative attack is a misinformation campaign designed for crass political gain. They’re fundraising off it, appearing all over the media (including Fox News), and spreading misinformation to fire up their base.”

Leadnow calls on Canadians to “remind the world that the majority of people in Canada stand up for human rights”.

Conservative Senator Denise Batters tweeted about the campaign over the weekend.

This is so gross. https://t.co/k7P8YnIvsa — Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) July 23, 2017

Last week, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel appeared on Fox News with host Tucker Carlson and blasted the Trudeau government for its settlement with Khadr. Earlier, Conservative MP Peter Kent wrote an opinion piece ripping into the payment that appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

For those who oppose the settlement, an online campaign aimed at raising money for the family of Sgt. Christopher Speer — the U.S. soldier who was killed in the fight in which Khadr was ultimately captured — has raised $225,101.