Omar Khadr corroborated
Thank you for publishing Scott Taylor’s article on Omar Khadr (NOW, July 11). It’s one of the better pieces on the background that led to the financial settlement for Khadr.
Too many other news outlets have taken the settlement in isolation and whipped their readers into outrage and indignation.
Many people have responded emotionally to this settlement without taking the time to enlighten themselves. Those individuals would do well to read this article.
Judi Charlton, Toronto
Media missing U.S. crimes in Khadr story
Wow. All the anger expressed by the righteous Canadian news media for the $10.5 million offered Omar Khadr. What were the U.S. doing in Afghanistan in the first place? They were there to kill and destroy. Today, more than one million Afghanis and Iraqis have been killed and starved to death and cities were left in ruins because of U.S.-led wars in the region.
At the end of the Second World War, the American general who accepted the Japanese surrender said “war is a double-edged sword.” Kill or be killed. So leave Khadr alone.
Rudolf Manook, Toronto
Khadr payout may make feds think twice
I am delighted by the apology and award to Omar Khadr. Maybe, just maybe, the next time a Canadian citizen is being tortured, the Canadian government will step in to protect him or her.
Khadr wasn’t guilty of murder. He was a child soldier. It would be nice if every time a soldier killed a soldier on the opposing side it was considered murder, but it’s not.
The best evidence also suggests that he couldn’t have thrown the grenade that killed U.S. infantryman Christopher Speer.
The Americans wanted to get someone, and Khadr was the only one still alive in that bunker.
Elizabeth Block, Toronto
Cops stand by anti-Muslim hate
Re Anti-Semitism Vs. Islamophobia by Bernie M. Farber (NOW, July 6-19). I could not agree more.
John Tory, when he was Ontario PC leader, had a failed election campaign on funding for faith-based schools, so a political solution to religious accommodation in schools seems remote, at least at the moment.
However, that does not mean that the police should stand by as vitriol and hatred are spewed out at religious minorities over allowing Muslim prayer in schools. Thanks for pointing this out so clearly.
Don Jack, Toronto
Happy Birthday Canada? Maybe not
Thank you for your very good articles by Pamela Palmater, I. Rattan and Ramona Kiyoshk on Canada 150 (NOW, July 6-19). Happy Birthday Canada? Balderdash. I will celebrate when every Indigenous man, woman and child has equal access to all the benefits white people take for granted: housing, education, health care and the opportunity to make a living. Until then, we have nothing to crow about.
E. Blanche Maddeaux, Toronto
Police racism not just an Indigenous issue
Re Inquiry On Missing And Murdered Needs A Reset (NOW, July 6-19). I totally agree with Professor Pamela Palmater’s criticism, which all First Nations Chiefs, human rights and social justice activists should read.
The delays and resignations of several commissioners are a serious insult to the families and friends of the more than 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women still waiting for closure and justice.
I also call readers attention to Palmater’s allegations of widespread police racism and sexual assaults in forces across the country.
Don Weitz, Toronto
Time for city to put cash in climate plan
Toronto has a new Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. We already have a 2020 target of 30 per cent, which we are on our way to meeting.
However meeting the 2050 target set by the TransformTO plan will be a challenge. We must do our part if global emissions are to be cut sufficiently or temperatures will soar due to feedback loops.
The good news is that this plan will create jobs – some 10,000 of them – through building retrofits. And transit will need to be improved to meet transportation emissions reduction targets. Make sure your councillor knows that you care about this issue and that you want to see the necessary funds in the 2018 budget.
Lyn Adamson, Toronto
