This letter is in response to Matt Diederichs letter in (Gazette, Oct. 18). When I first read the letter my thoughts were that this would be something one would find on an ANTIFA page on Facebook. I received the mailout in question. My perception was that Michael Cooper caught the very essence of the outrage which the majority of Canadians are feeling regarding the payment received. There are numerous reasons for the outrage including the amount, the timing, and the secrecy in which it was made.Matt utilizes the time-honoured methods that people sometimes use. The use of right-wing views, incredulous misrepresentation of facts, spreading of hate, Islamophobia are all well-known phrases to describe those who hold dissimilar viewpoints. In an effort to correct these “gross misrepresentations of facts” as Matt referred to them I will provide a number of links for those who wish to educate themselves. This first link is a detailed account of the timeline. Notice that it was a Liberal government that was in power at the time this story began? http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2004/04/the-khadrs-canadas-first-family-of-terrorism This link is from Judgements of the Supreme Court of Canada, 23 May, 2008. https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/4638/index.do This link is from Judgements of the Supreme Court of Canada, 29 January, 2010. https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/7842/index.do Matt states that his students are learning about the rights of Canadian citizens, about government smear campaigns, and of misrepresentation of media facts to suit political agendas. Reading his letter I question who is actually doing what. He states that it was the Conservative Party which denied Khadr his rights but fails to acknowledge that it was a Liberal government who indeed failed in that respect. See the links above. Shameful and uneducated says Matt? What is truly disturbing here is that we have a person in a position of influence, a public servant, a teacher no less that is through his words and actions is presenting false and biased information. I have provided links above which provide facts and are unbiased. The last line of the letter is an outright insult. “This is the very thing our peacekeepers fight against.” I’m a veteran. I served 22 years in Her Majesty's Canadian Army. I was NOT was a “peacekeeper.” I was a professional soldier. I enshrined the military ethos of honesty, loyalty, trust and integrity. I studied the profession of arms, period. So Matt, I have provided links to sources which provide facts. If people want to know them they have the choice of investigating them. Should they do that they will find that your letter is full of misinformation. Rather than Trudeau cleaning up Harper's mess it was Harper cleaning up the Liberals' mess. Finally, the majority of Canadians are not happy with the payment. Michael Cooper's mailout reflected that outrage. Rod Loesch, St Albert
