Canada could prove itself an enlightened world leader if it brought Jack Letts here from Syria after British authorities stripped the alleged ISIL member of his citizenship, his father told the National Post Monday.
Ontario–born John Letts said he wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau two weeks ago to argue that Canada should accept his son, a former joint citizen who is now solely Canadian because of the U.K.’s recent action.
Letts — dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by British media — could be prosecuted and jailed in Canada if there’s evidence of wrongdoing, and would make for a powerful voice against radicalization, said the father.
“We can lead the world and show that there is a way through this mess,” said John Letts in an interview from his home in Oxford. “By taking our people back, we can be an example of how to deal with this … We can’t just leave a festering wound over in the Middle East. It’s going to come back and bite us again.”
And he stressed the family would never sue the Canadian government, rejecting comparisons to the case of Omar Khadr, who was awarded $10 million by Ottawa after he sued over torture while an al-Qaeda detainee.
Meanwhile, in a British TV interview from prison aired Monday, Jack Letts said he feels like he is Canadian and hopes the country will take him in, but is not optimistic. “I don’t think anyone is going to help me,” he told ITV.
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See Also:
(2) With Jihadi Jack, Britain gives Canada a taste of its own medicine
(3) Throwing the first punch: Britain rids itself of an ISIL recruit at our expense
(4) Let Jihadi Jack rot in a Kurdish jail — not come to Canada
(5) Trudeau keeps mum on whether ‘Jihadi Jack’ will be allowed in Canada
