Gentlemen, welcome today.
I was sitting here thinking, as you gave your expert advice, that it's not often you will find parliamentarians saying that we need your expert advice. We tend to puff ourselves up in our chairs and pretend we know it all. In fact, your evidence here today is crucial for us.
I am old enough to recall the days when we looked at the Kennedy administration as a bright light dawning in the U.S., and it was followed by our own charter. There's a saying that I've developed in the last few years, that common sense isn't common anymore. Common sense should tell everybody that this is a child soldier. He was 13 to 14 years of age when he left our country with his father. He was a dutiful young man who followed his father, as misguided as all of that was, and we understand. We certainly don't support the rhetoric that comes out of the family, but still, he was a 15-year-old boy when he was wounded and nearly killed in battle. Then he found himself in Guantanamo. To judge by the testimony of his legal representative, he wasn't separated from the adults but was confined with them.
I have to wonder if there are similarities between this case and the Maher Arar case—the treatment, detainment, the suggestion of the American government--