{"id":77356,"date":"2016-06-15T03:47:41","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T07:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=77356"},"modified":"2016-06-15T03:47:41","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T07:47:41","slug":"family-slain-hostage-says-backs-canadas-policy-not-pay-ransom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/06\/15\/family-slain-hostage-says-backs-canadas-policy-not-pay-ransom\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of slain hostage says it backs Canada\u2019s policy not to pay ransom"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Canadian<\/a>
Canadian hostage Robert Hall was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf Group after their C$16.6M ransom deadline passed.
(Screenrab from YouTube video)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OTTAWA \u2013 Relatives of a Canadian man whose expansive, romantic life was cut short by terrorists in the Philippines say despite the tragic end to his story, they agree with Canada\u2019s policy of not paying ransom for hostages.<\/p>\n

Robert Hall, an adventurous nomad in his late 60s who called his new home a paradise on earth, was captured by a militant group called Abu Sayyaf in September 2015 and was beheaded earlier this week after a deadline for a ransom payment passed.<\/p>\n

In a statement distributed by the press gallery in Ottawa on Tuesday, Hall\u2019s family said the efforts to free him were \u201cvast and exhaustive\u201d but in the end, they agree with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s directive that money not be paid to hostage takers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur family, even in our darkest hour, agrees wholeheartedly with Canada\u2019s policy of not paying ransom to those who would seek to undermine the fundamental values with which my father lived his life,\u201d said the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand with the ideals that built this country: strength of character; resilience of spirit; and refusal to succumb to the demands of the wretched, in order to satisfy the bloodlust of the weak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strength and resilience were certainly part of Hall\u2019s own character. Described by his family as a self-made man who rose up from \u201cthe hardships of his own youth,\u201d he led a life many might envy.<\/p>\n

Hall was born in Calgary but lived in various parts of Western Canada. He ran a series of businesses \u2013 a small engine repair shop, a pizza stand, a home renovation company, and a consulting firm \u2013 but spent 25 years at his custom welding and fabrication business.<\/p>\n

Along the way he experienced many adventures, from building and competing with his own racecars to learning to become a pilot. A gifted athlete, he was a championship wrestler, played football and hockey, and coached soccer and hockey teams. Later in his life, he discovered archery, fencing, and sailing.<\/p>\n

\u201cA romantic to the very core, Robert believed in controlling his own destiny, and that hard work and a desire to succeed were the two main ingredients to any successful endeavour,\u201d said his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been described as a \u2018dreamer,\u2019 which he certainly was, but more than that he was an achiever. He didn\u2019t sit around and dream about sailing the world; he got up and did it, made it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

They said he eventually moved out west and started living on a boat while pursuing part-time acting jobs, joking that he was \u201conly a marlin trophy away from the full Hemingway.\u201d<\/p>\n

While sailing and travelling around the world, Hall landed in the Philippines a couple of years ago. He told his family that the country’s people were warm and gracious, its weather mild and that the port city of Davao, where he lived, was renowned for its safety.<\/p>\n

Hall\u2019s beheading has been confirmed by the government of the Philippines, which called it a \u201cbrutal and senseless murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

A militant video obtained by Philippine police officials showed Hall in an orange shirt and kneeling in front of a black Islamic State-style flag before he was killed in a jungle area.<\/p>\n

His death came after the killing in April of fellow Canadian John Ridsdel, who was snatched from a marina by Abu Sayyaf along with Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and a Philippines national last September.<\/p>\n

Trudeau has steadfastly refused to entertain the thought of paying ransom to hostage takers. In the wake of Ridsdel\u2019s execution, he said Canada would never pay a ransom for the hostages in the Philippines, and last month persuaded leaders of the other G7 countries to reiterate their opposition to paying ransoms.<\/p>\n

On Monday, he repeated that paying ransoms would put more Canadians in danger.<\/p>\n

Abu Sayyaf operates mainly in the south of the Philippines, in the western Mindano and the Sulu Archipelago, but staged a major attack in 2004 that killed more than 100 people when militants bombed a ferry in Manila Bay.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Philippines security forces have attacked Abu Sayyaf, killing senior leaders and arresting others, but they\u2019ve been unable to end the group\u2019s kidnapping, extortion and terrorist activities.<\/p>\n

Hall\u2019s family said they will persevere and that their thoughts are also with \u201cthe other families who continue to suffer through these circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore importantly than the things he did, is the way he lived his life and the manner in which he impacted the people who knew him,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe believed in right and wrong, in doing the right thing even when it was difficult or no one was watching, and in helping people who couldn\u2019t otherwise help themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lived with the idea that you only had so much time \u2013 \u2018only so many heartbeats,\u2019 as he put it \u2013 and it was important to do as much living as possible while you could.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA \u2013 Relatives of a Canadian man whose expansive, romantic life was cut short by terrorists in the Philippines say …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":77298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[254,11237,9796],"class_list":["post-77356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","tag-abu-sayyaf","tag-prime-minister-justin-trudeau","tag-robert-hall","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}