Close X
Sunday, November 10, 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

    Toronto's Zain Rajani Is The First Baby Born Using 'Game-Changing' Egg-Enhancing Treatment

    Toronto's Zain Rajani Is The First Baby Born Using 'Game-Changing' Egg-Enhancing Treatment
    TORONTO — A Canadian woman is the first mother to give birth after undergoing a new procedure that boosts the health of women's eggs to improve the success rate of in-vitro fertilization.

    Toronto's Zain Rajani Is The First Baby Born Using 'Game-Changing' Egg-Enhancing Treatment

    Whistler Blackcomb Sees Decline In Ski Visits Amid Poor Weather, Q2 Profit Down

    WHISTLER, B.C. — Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. (TSX:WB) says skier visits were down 9.3 per cent during the past winter season, partly because of unusually warm and wet weather and below-average snowfall.

    Whistler Blackcomb Sees Decline In Ski Visits Amid Poor Weather, Q2 Profit Down

    Vancouver Business Association Appeals Homeless Discrimination Ruling

    Vancouver Business Association Appeals Homeless Discrimination Ruling
    VANCOUVER — An association representing Vancouver businesses is appealing a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that found its street patrol program discriminates against homeless people.

    Vancouver Business Association Appeals Homeless Discrimination Ruling

    Government Supports Motion To Remove Federal Tax On Feminine Products

    Government Supports Motion To Remove Federal Tax On Feminine Products
    OTTAWA — The Harper government says it supports a House of Commons motion calling for the removal of the federal tax on tampons.

    Government Supports Motion To Remove Federal Tax On Feminine Products

    Harper Appears Unmoved Following Omar Khadr's Release On Bail, Public Statements

    Harper Appears Unmoved Following Omar Khadr's Release On Bail, Public Statements
    "Mr. Khadr, as we all know, pled guilty to very grave crimes, including murder," Harper told a news conference as he offered his thoughts and prayers to the family members of U.S. Sgt. Christopher Speer.

    Harper Appears Unmoved Following Omar Khadr's Release On Bail, Public Statements

    Prentice Should Foot Bill For Calgary Byelection He's Causing: Taxpayers Group

    CALGARY — The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says outgoing Alberta premier Jim Prentice should reach into his own pocket to cover the cost of a byelection in his riding.

    Prentice Should Foot Bill For Calgary Byelection He's Causing: Taxpayers Group