LILLEY: Let Jihadi Jack rot in a Kurdish jail — not come to Canada

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Jihadi Jack wasn’t born in Canada and he’s never lived here, but the man accused of being an ISIS fighter and terrorist could be living in Canada soon.

Jack Letts, born and raised in England, had his British citizenship stripped last month. That means that Letts, who has visited Canada a couple of times with his Canadian-born father, could land in our lap.

Letts can claim Canadian citizenship through his father and now that Britain won’t take him back from a Kurdish prison, all eyes are on Canada.

Based on what he has said in the past, including passing Bill C-6 which restored citizenship to convicted jihadists, you one might reasonably think Justin Trudeau would be fully behind this.

“We know diversity is our strength, and for this side of the House, a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,” Trudeau said in October 2017.

At the time, Trudeau was praising C-6 which allowed people like Zakaria Amara, a key person in the Toronto 18 terror plot, to regain their Canadian citizenship. Amara, born in Jordan, could have been deported from Canada upon completion of his life sentence.

But to Trudeau, at that time anyway, anyone with a connection to Canada was welcome here so Amara can stay.

So it is a bit surprising to hear Trudeau now when he is questioned about Jihadi Jack.

“It is a crime to travel internationally with a goal of supporting terrorism or engaging in terrorism. And that is a crime that we will continue to make all attempts to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” Trudeau said Monday in Quebec City when answering questions from the reporters.

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What ever happened to, “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian?”

For that matter, what ever happened to welcoming back ISIS fighters with poetry lessons and referring to them as, “an extraordinarily powerful voice.”

Seems that Trudeau is facing election and can’t afford to be seen as soft on terror.

That’s the only explanation for his change in tune.

Trudeau wouldn’t bite when asked if he was “open” to letting Letts come to Canada nor would he say he would attempt to block his move to this country.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer wasn’t shy about saying Letts shouldn’t be on Canadian soil.
“Jihadi Jack is in prison now and that is where he should stay. A Conservative government under my leadership will not lift a finger to bring him back to Canada,” Scheer said in a statement.

I like that statement, except for the bit that says “bring him back.” Jack Letts has never lived in Canada, he visited relatives and that does not make him a Canadian.

My parents were born in Britain; I was born in Canada. Like Letts, I could claim British citizenship the same way he claims Canadian.

Yet I’ve never lived there.  I’ve only gone to visit relatives, which is what Letts has done with Canada.

If I got into trouble overseas, I wouldn’t ask Britain to bail me out.

Jack Letts is not Canada’s problem except for those that want to engage in theoretical arguments about citizenship and being stateless.

Letts is a Brit, not a Canuck.

As far as I’m concerned he can stay in a Kurdish prison — or head back to England — but this country owes him nothing.