April 25th, 2016
CBC News, Peter
Zimonjic
Overview:
68 year-old John Ridsdel was beheaded by ISIS
members in the Philippines. Ridsdel was kidnapped on September 21, 2015 along
with another Canadian, Robert Hall. That means he has been in capture of ISIS
for more than 7 months. ISIS held a ransom of 8 million dollars for Ridsdel's
freedom. He was killed after the deadline for the ransom was not met.
Prime Minister Trudeau publically condemned
the killing of John Ridsdel saying "The government of Canada is committed
to working with the government of the Philippines and international partners to
pursue those responsible for this heinous act and to bring them to
justice." Trudeau expressed his condolences Ridsdel family and friends who
will miss him deeply.
Trudeau also took time to restate that the
Canadian Government does not negotiate with terrorists in any way, shape, or
form. He firmly told the public that paying ransoms to terrorists will not
solve any problems and Canada will continue to expel any transactions made with
terrorists whether directly or indirectly.
Along with the United States and the United
Kingdom, Canada stands broad against any ransoms to terrorists for kidnappings.
Countries like Germany, Spain, and France however. Do pay the ransom for the
return of their citizens. Trudeau continues other countries to stop paying off
terrorists.
Robert Hall and John Ridsdel captured by ISIS
Opinion:
In my opinion, I think that Justin Trudeau
made the right decision to not pay the 8 million dollar ransom for the return
of the Canadian citizens. If Trudeau agreed to pay the ransom then the captives
would have return home safely and 8 million dollars is not going to hurt the
Government. Money is not the issue in this circumstance. A soon as Trudeau
decides to pay them, he will have to do the same for every Canadian citizen
captured and taken as a hostage.
Since Canada has a law to not negotiate with
terrorists, Trudeau would also be breaking that law as a new Prime Minister. I
think he has a sturdy concept on thinking about the consequences through and
reviewing the best option. Clearly Justin Trudeau decides the best option for
the country and not just for one family.
I also believe that his approach on
abolishing any sort of transactions with terrorists was dealt with maturely.
The family of John Ridsdel probably would have paid the ransom themselves if
they had the money. That means only wealthy people would be able to have their
family members returned and lower income families would not be able to pay the
ransom. Trudeau is for getting rid of any payments that could possibly be paid
by anyone even if they have enough money to pay the ransom.
Trudeau lastly did a considerable job
sending his condolences to John Ridsdel's family and friends. I am sure that he
thought about how the family must be feeling when they know that all the
government had to do was pay the ransom. Now if one of Trudeau's family members
were kidnapped, this would be a different story. But overall in my eyes, Justin
Trudeau adapted well to this unfortunate incident and I think his message
towards paying off terrorists was well sent out.Justin Trudeau will not pay ransom to terrorists
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