Close X
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
ADVT 
National

Green Party Leader May Very Apologetic About Omar Khadr Remarks

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 11 May, 2015 12:27 PM
    OTTAWA — Green party Leader Elizabeth May says she is "very apologetic" about remarks she made on the weekend that included profanity and insulted the federal cabinet about how it has treated Omar Khadr.
     
    May was among party leaders who addressed Parliament Hill journalists and politicians on Saturday night at their annual press gallery dinner.
     
    Usually, party leaders deliver light-hearted, mainly self-deprecating speeches that include the odd barb thrown at the media.
     
    But May went on at length about being the only female leader and having to claw her way into televised leaders' debates.
     
    Transport Minister Lisa Raitt intervened and attempted to persuade May to end her speech, but instead, May played a recording of "Welcome back Kotter" — a theme song from a 1970s sitcom — and stated that Khadr has "more class than the whole f---ing cabinet."
     
    In a phone interview on Sunday, a hoarse May expressed her regrets for her taste in jokes, her lack of respect for her parliamentary colleagues and her choice of language.
     
    "I wouldn't want anyone to think I was less than respectful for the people with whom I work," May said.
     
    "I apologize that I made an attempt to be funny and edgy....and it didn't work."
     
    May said she was just getting over the flu, had put in a 21-hour work day on Friday, and then had to rise early in British Columbia on Saturday morning to make it to the press gallery event in Gatineau, Que.
     
    "My funny speech wasn't funny. That's not the first time a politician has done that."
     
    In the Khadr section of her speech, May said she meant to make the point that Canada is a country that gives people second chances, and that she hopes Canadians welcome him into their midst.
     
    Khadr, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, was set free on bail last Thursday despite repeated attempts by the federal government to keep him behind bars in Canada.
     
    Now 28, Khadr pleaded guilty in October 2010 before a widely discredited military commission to five war crimes — including murder in the death of Speer, a U.S. special forces soldier.
     
    Khadr spent almost 13 years behind bars — four of them as a convicted war criminal.
     
    He was captured, badly wounded, by American forces in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15 years old. At one time, he was the youngest prisoner at the American prison compound in Guantanamo Bay.
     
    May's remarks left many at the Saturday night gala wondering what had come over her, and sparked a Twitter storm on Sunday.
     
    May said she had no hard feelings towards Raitt for intervening in her speech, and said the two women are friends.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Moga Bus Molestation: 13-Year-Old Girl Dies After Being Thrown From Badal Family's Bus; 4 Arrested

    Moga Bus Molestation: 13-Year-Old Girl Dies After Being Thrown From Badal Family's Bus; 4 Arrested
    Police said that four people, including the bus driver, conductor and helper, were arrested on Thursday, and a case of murder, attempt to murder and molestation slapped on them.

    Moga Bus Molestation: 13-Year-Old Girl Dies After Being Thrown From Badal Family's Bus; 4 Arrested

    Allan Schoenborn, B.C. Dad, Who Killed 3 Kids Says He'll Try To Control Anger If Allowed Outings

    Allan Schoenborn, B.C. Dad, Who Killed 3 Kids Says He'll Try To Control Anger If Allowed Outings
    COQUITLAM, B.C. — A B.C. man who murdered his three children has promised he won't try to escape if he gets permission to go on escorted outings from a psychiatric hospital.

    Allan Schoenborn, B.C. Dad, Who Killed 3 Kids Says He'll Try To Control Anger If Allowed Outings

    West Vancouver Teen Investigated For Attempted Murder In Attack On Family Member: Police

    West Vancouver Teen Investigated For Attempted Murder In Attack On Family Member: Police
    VANCOUVER — Police say a 16-year-old West Vancouver resident is being investigated for attempted murder after a violent attack on a family member.

    West Vancouver Teen Investigated For Attempted Murder In Attack On Family Member: Police

    Topless Pro-Abortion Protester Disrupts News Conference In Quebec As Archbishop Reads Pope's Message

    Topless Pro-Abortion Protester Disrupts News Conference In Quebec As Archbishop Reads Pope's Message
    QUEBEC — A bare-chested female activist disrupted a news conference in Quebec City today and denounced what she called anti-abortion legislation.

    Topless Pro-Abortion Protester Disrupts News Conference In Quebec As Archbishop Reads Pope's Message

    New Head Coach Jeff Tedford Says Tempo Will Be Key For B.C. Lions

    SURREY, B.C. — B.C. Lions head coach Jeff Tedford stands in the middle of the field and shouts at no one in particular to get moving.

    New Head Coach Jeff Tedford Says Tempo Will Be Key For B.C. Lions

    Newfoundland And Labrador Raises Taxes, Fees In Election Year Budget

    Newfoundland And Labrador Raises Taxes, Fees In Election Year Budget
    ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Taxpayers in Newfoundland and Labrador are going to pay more as the provincial government looks for ways to cope with a downturn in oil and commodity prices in the budget it tabled Thursday.

    Newfoundland And Labrador Raises Taxes, Fees In Election Year Budget