It is shocking to learn that as far back as five years ago Canadian officials knew of the torture and ill-treatment Omar Khadr had experienced but did not intervene on his behalf. Instead at that time, much as today, the government had insisted that they had received assurances from US officials that Mr. Khadr was being well-treated, in a manner consistent with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, and that there was therefore no reason for Canada to intervene. Today's revelations underscore how unreliable and hollow those assurances were.