How's this for a Harper policy? "Canada not obliged to protect kids outside country"

It just warms the heart, doesn't it? Beneath the sweater vest, the true nature of the Stephen Harper Conservative party:

Canada's legal duty to protect its citizens, even children, ends at the border and there is nothing in domestic or international law that obliges the government to seek Omar Khadr's repatriation, say federal arguments filed in court.

And hey, it's not like they haven't done SOME things to help the kid:

The government contends it has done plenty to ensure the "well-being" of the Guantanamo Bay detainee - from supplying him with magazines to ensuring he receives medical treatment and facilitating contact with his family - and any further protection is at the discretion of the state, not the courts.

I'm sure he appreciates the old Reader's Digests. Humour in Uniform probably takes on a whole new meaning at Gitmo.

What makes the Harper policy even more odious is that it's so subjective. It's not that they won't help any Canadian in trouble in foreign lands. Instead, they seem to pick and choose based on their own political, philosophical and moral biases. One case will get the full Jason Kenney putting on the pressure treatment, while another will see excuse after excuse as a citizen is exiled at an embassy or just plain indifference as a citizen rots at Gitmo. It depends entirely on their definition of whose a "real Canadian" and who isn't.

And that's wrong. The government has the responsibility to stand up for all its citizens. Even the odious ones. These things should be beyond politics. And for my country's government to be arguing otherwise in federal court is just sad.

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