Canada won’t pay hostage ransoms says Trudeau

Canada will not pay ransoms for the release of its citizens held hostage overseas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday after the gruesome killing of a Canadian in the Philippines.

“Canada does not and will not pay ransom to terrorists, directly or indirectly,” Trudeau said, vowing instead to hunt down and prosecute hostage-takers.

The Philippine military has come under increased pressure to rescue more than 20 foreign hostages after their Muslim extremist captors beheaded John Ridsdel.