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DE RUEHOT #0990 2052137
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 232137Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8241
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
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UNCLAS OTTAWA 000990 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL KPAO AF CA
SUBJ: PUBLIC OPINION STABLE IN WAKE OF OMAR KHADR DVD 
 
REF: Ottawa 960 
 
¶1. (SBU) A court-ordered release on July 16 of a DVD showing 
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) personnel interviewing 
alleged Canadian terrorist Omar Khadr in 2003 at Guantanamo Bay has 
failed to sway public opinion. According to a recent poll, eight in 
ten Canadians who saw the interrogation footage did not subsequently 
change their views on Khadr.  Televised excerpts of the DVD showed 
Khadr crying, showing his wounds, and complaining about sleep 
deprivation to CSIS agents. 
 
¶2. (U) Public opinion concerning the Khadr case continues to be 
split evenly.  According to a July 22 Toronto Star - Angus Reid 
poll, 38 percent of Canadians believe that the government should 
fight for Khadr's repatriation, while 38 percent think that he 
should face the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.  Twenty percent 
of Canadians remain undecided on the issue.  These results are 
nearly identical to polls taken before Canadians saw the footage of 
the interview. 
 
¶3. (U) However, the new Angus Reid poll showed a slight increase in 
sympathy for Khadr.  Previously, 31 percent of Canadians said they 
felt sympathetic to Khadr, although 46 percent said they did not. 
After the DVD's release, sympathetic Canadians grew to 36 percent, 
while those still unsympathetic fell to 41 percent. 
 
¶4. (U) In a separate July 23 Ipsos Reid poll conducted for the 
National Post, of the 22 percent who had changed their beliefs due 
to the video, 18 percent said they had become more sympathetic to 
Khadr, while 4 percent were less sympathetic.  However, out of the 
78 percent of Canadians who were not swayed by the footage, 50 
percent stated they are not empathetic to Khadr, with 27 percent 
expressing compassion for him.  Overall, 60 percent of Canadians 
remain in favor of Khadr facing trial in the U.S., with 40 percent 
calling for his return to Canada, according to the Ipsos Reid poll. 
Ontario residents are the least supportive of the Toronto-born 
Khadr, with only 31 percent seeking his repatriation.  Support for 
Khadr's return is highest in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, at 56 
percent and 52 percent, respectively. 
 
¶5. (U) Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not commented publicly on 
the DVD, but his new Director of Communications, Kory Teneycke, 
affirmed PM Harper's support for the U.S. military tribunal by 
stating that "there's a judicial process to deal with these serious 
charges that have been leveled against Mr. Khadr, and that process, 
not a political process, should determine his fate." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: The apparent hope of Khadr's Canadian and U.S. 
lawyers that dramatic footage of Khadr's tears and complaints about 
sleep deprivation in his meeting with CSIS officials would create a 
groundswell of more favorable public opinion and impel the 
government to reverse course seems to have failed.  While a lively 
public debate in the media and various blogs continues about Khadr - 
whether a 15 year old should have been arrested in the first place, 
whether he should face trial in Guantanamo Bay or in Canada, whether 
the government should insist on his repatriation, whether there are 
legal grounds for a prosecution in Canada in lieu of the U.S. 
military tribunal, etc. - continues, the Parliamentary summer recess 
(and lack of daily Question Period) and competing joys of the 
all-too-brief Canadian summer essentially have kept any genuine 
pressure off the government to change its policy, at least for the 
time being.  Should the tribunal find Khadr guilty, the Canadian 
government will have another tough choice about whether to insist 
that he return to serve jail time in Canada instead of the U.S.  The 
Qthat he return to serve jail time in Canada instead of the U.S.  The 
Liberals and the New Democratic Party will insist on the 
affirmative, but popular sentiments against the entire Khadr family 
may make it easier for the government to do nothing. 
 
WILKINS