Philippine Asian News Today Vol 18 No 18 | Page 16

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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY September 16 - 30, 2016

Sister of beheaded Canadian: Trudeau failed hostages
killed by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines
Bonice Thomas, a
sister of Robert Hall, a
Canadian beheaded in
the Philippines by the Abu
Sayyaf extremist group, is
demanding an inquiry into
the Canadian government’s
efforts to free Hall and
fellow Canadian John
Ridsdel, who was also killed
in captivity.
Maclean’s magazine
reported that Thomas
wants an inquiry into how
the Liberal government
of Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau handled the highprofile kidnapping case.
Thomas said in the
report that the Canadian
government “literally did
the least they possibly
could” to help rescue her
66-year-old brother.

beheaded weeks earlier.
The Abu Sayyaf killed
Hall and Ridsdel after
repeated ransom deadlines
passed without payment.
Maclean’s
quoted
a September 21, 2016
Facebook post by Thomas
to mark the anniversary of
her brother’s abduction,
saying Ottawa should be
“held accountable for their
inaction and apathy toward
two Canadians in extreme
peril,” and urged others to
join her call for an inquiry.
“In the last video
that we saw of Robert—
alive—he brokenheartedly
said that he felt he had
been abandoned by his
government,”
Thomas
writes. “He was right. And
it broke my heart too.”
Ottawa does not pay
Hall was abducted ransoms to kidnappers as
on September 21, 2015 government policy.
from a luxury marina
Macleans
reported
in the Philippines along that in her Facebook post,
with his Filipina girlfriend Thomas said the Liberal
Marites
Flor,
Ridsdel, government failed to do
and Norwegian Kjartan all it could to help save the
Sekkingstad.
hostages.
Hall was executed
“I and the rest of my
on June 13. Ridsdel was family steadfastly agree
with a no-ransom policy,”

she writes. “We will not pay
criminals to further their
criminal activity. However, I
assumed—as we all did—
that we, our government—
CANADA—would
take
immediate and meaningful
action to secure the safety
and release of two of our
sons. We were wrong.”
According
to
Maclean’s, Thomas spent
“nine agonizing months”
writing letter after letter
to government agencies,
Thomas says, but they
received
no
concrete
response, “aside from
the occasional auto reply
confirming
receipt
of
my emails, and a snarky
letter from the Defence
Department saying I had
the wrong department.”
In the meantime, she
says, Ottawa’s “bumbling
and inaction” gave the
kidnappers “the time they
needed to sharpen their
swords.”
“I’m not a politician,
nor scholar, and don’t
pretend to know how one
government
engages
another
government,
especially regarding crimes

of this calibre, but I do
know that our government
literally did the least they
possibly could to help
my brother and the other
hostages,” according to her
post cited by Macleans.
“Sadly, in hindsight, I
see that Trudeau, [Global
Affairs Minister Stéphane]
Dion, the RCMP, and all
other government offices
involved in this file were
in waaay [sic] over their
heads and too focused on
their single, incomplete
thought—’We don’t pay
ransom’—to have a plan,
a strategy, or even any kind
of template from which to
work.”
“I’m asking all of
you,” Thomas appeals
in the Facebook post,
“to remove your polite
Canadian pants and put
on your kick-some-ass
Canadian pants—join me
in asking for, insisting on,
demanding, accountability
for our hostage policies and
an inquiry into the actions
our government took to
save the lives of Robert Hall
and John Ridsdel.”
Thomas lives on British

Columbia’s
Sunshine
Coast, where she works
as the property manager
of a lodge, according to
Macleans.
A spokesman for Global
Affairs Canada released
a prepared statement to
Maclean’s: “We would like
to express our deepest
condolences to the family
of Robert Hall and John
Ridsdel as we mark this
difficult anniversary. We
cannot begin to understand
the terrible ordeal the family
has endured, but recognize
that this has been a
devastating year for them.
Canada condemns without
reservation the brutality
of the hostage-takers,
and these unnecessary
deaths. These were acts
of cold-blooded murder
and responsibility rests
squarely with the terrorist
group who took him
hostage. We continue to
work with the government
of the Philippines and
international partners to
pursue those responsible
for these heinous acts and
to bring them to justice,
however long it takes.”

Senator Enverga thanks Jason Kenney for
his service to Canada
Ottawa Today,
the Honourable Tobias
C. Enverga Jr., Ontario
senator,
issued
the
following statement on
the resignation of the
Honourable Jason Kenney,
Member of Parliament of
Calgary Midnapore:
“Today marks the end
of a chapter in Canadian
politics as my good friend
Jason Kenney bids farewell
to federal politics to
embark on a new chapter
of his stellar political
career. His unquestionable
commitment to Canada and
his profound understanding
of what makes Canada
a unique and successful
country is going to be
missed in Ottawa.
“During his tenure as a
Member of Parliament, Mr.
Kenney has always been
astutely aware of Canada’s
distinctive character as
a multicultural nation of

immigrants. As reflected
in his official cabinet roles
since the Conservative Party
of Canada gained power in
2006, he always maintained
the overall responsibility
of multiculturalism and
protecting that aspect
of Canadian governance
by ensuring that we
celebrate the continuing
positive contribution of
immigrants, of which I
am one, and streamlining
the immigration process
to further the interest of
Canada and Canadians.
He also maintained the
integrity of those from
around the world who show
a desire and an honest
commitment to become a
Canadian citizen with all the
rights and responsibilities
that this entails.
“I have met few, if any,
persons who have done
as much as Jason Kenney
for my own community of

-

Senator Enverga, Jason Kenney and former Prime
Minister Stephen Harper

Filipino-Canadians.
He
sees the value of, and has
attempted to safeguard,
the continued increase of
immigrants arriving from
the Philippines. This has
been in part as a result of
the need that Canada has
for qualified dependable
workers to close a labour
market shortfall, and in part
as a result of the positive
contributions that Filipino
immigrants have made to
our society.
“It was under the

stewardship
of
Jason
Kenney that the Philippines
became the largest source
country of permanent
residents to Canada that
reached its peak last
year with over 50,000
permanent
residence
permits being granted to
citizens of the Philippines.
It was also under his watch
as Minister of Employment
and Social Development,
in cooperation with then
Minister of Immigration
Chris Alexander, that we

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saw an important reform of
the caregiver programme,
that would significantly
reduce the processing
times
for
permanent
resident applications.
I will personally miss
my dear friend when he
leaves Ottawa, but I wish
him all the best in his new
endeavours and I am sure
that he will be successful in
rebuilding the Conservative
ethos in Alberta. I want to
thank him for his role in
making Canada the best
country in the world.”