"Many of the purported facts fueling arguments either in support of the settlement or against it have been wrong."
Related twts From Craig Forcese
/1 If Khadr gone full trial, Harper, Chretien, Martin, fmr ministers, officials, dept wld all have likely lawyered up, at taxpayer expense
/2 Plaintiff’’s lawyers were already winning cost awards in relation to motions gov was fighting
/3 Constitutional breach probably issue be stopped b/c of SCC, but gov likely wld have fought that & sought to relitigate, increasing costs.
4/ Most of trial, thought, likely built around how gov conduct compounded the GITMO experience, dragging in sensitive info
5/ The cross-exams of fmr PMs & officials wld have been worth price of admission, but painful for the gov & agencies, who would try to fight
6/ All of this is to say, this wld have been like all the commissions of inquiry & related law suits in terms of complexity.
7/ How much did they cost? Well, take the Arar matter: $20 Mil
8/ So as someone who would have learned much about how our agencies work from an open trial, it’s a bit sad not to have one.
9/ But as a taxpayer, pretty hard to imagine I would have done better at the end of such a trial. And that’s before we talk damage award.
10/ Here, btw, court docket before Khadr settlement. 10 yrs $5 million in; still pre-trial legal throat clearing <link>
11/ Actually, 13 yrs in. Many judges, lawyers. Doubt $5 million includes the resources Fed Ct spent on this
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