Controversy
When Maha and Abdulkareem used the family's savings to return to Canada on April 9, 2004, Stockwell Day, Bob Runciman and John Cannis were among a public outcry calling for the Khadrs' citizenship to be revoked, and for the pair to be deported. Others suggested it was unfair to revoke citizenship from people who held views contrary to the government or majority.
Some Canadians complained that the Khadrs had "taken advantage of" Canada, living off its social services, while decrying it as a morally corrupted country. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty dissented, stating that the province would recognise the family's right to Ontario Health Insurance Plan medical coverage and to be treated like any other Canadian family.
In 2005, following Zaynab's return to the country, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer Konrad Shourie stated that "The entire family is affiliated with al Qaeda and has participated in some form or another with these criminal extremist elements".
A noted friend of the family, former Pakistani Air Force officer and ISI agent Khalid Khawaja spoke in their defense saying they were being unfairly targeted by Canadian authorities because of a deference to the United States, and Islamophobia.
Since returning to Canada, the Khadr family has been described as "poverty-stricken".
In their 2008 report concerning Mahmoud Jaballah, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) stated that Omar and Abdulkareem attended "training camps". In late October 2010, Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to charges against him in a military tribunal, admitting to having received "one-on-one terrorist training from an al-Qaeda operative and that he threw the grenade that killed U.S. Sergeant Christopher Speer".
Read more about this topic: Khadr Family
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