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Photo by Janet Hamlin

In 2010, Khadr took a plea deal that included a murder charge, saying later he only pleaded guilty in order to get out of Guantanamo. He was returned to Canada in 2012 to serve the rest of his sentence and released in 2015.

According to reports, the government has decided to settle his lawsuit with an apology and $10.5 million (he sued for $20 million).

Meanwhile, Speer’s wife and Morris sued Khadr for damages and won a default $134 million in 2015 in a Utah court. The settlement was never enforced, which would have required legal action in Canadian court.

Anglin said the latter lawsuit didn’t factor into discussions about the Khadr case while he was in government. But its resolution could offer Speer and Morris an opportunity.

“When you get a judgment in another country, in a legal system that Canada generally recognizes, like the U.S., you need to get a court in Canada to recognize that judgment. So you’d bring an action in Canada to get the Utah judgment recognized,” Anglin said.

“I suspect that they didn’t do that previously because (Khadr) had no assets. So you’d be spending money on legal fees, coming to court with no prospect of recovering anything. So now that there are assets, in theory at least, they should be able to get the judgment enforced. … I’d be surprised if they didn’t.”

Conservative foreign affairs critic Tony Clement said he thinks Speer should pursue any legal action she can, but Khadr should pre-empt it. “We call on Mr. Khadr to give any funds he receives to the widow and family of Christopher Speer.”