A judge has agreed to ease some bail conditions for former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr and is considering other changes that would increase his freedoms.
Khadr's curfew is being eased so he can attend night classes at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, where he plans to study to become an emergency medical technician.
He can also leave home earlier in the morning for religious prayers.
The federal government is not opposing the changes, which also include allowing Khadr to stay with friends in Alberta if permitted by his bail supervisor. He is currently required to live with one of his lawyers, Dennis Edney, and not leave Alberta except to stay at Edney's vacation home in B.C.
Khadr's lawyers argued in court Friday that he has complied with his bail conditions for the last four months and most of the restrictions are no longer needed.
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Justice June Ross agreed to bail in May, pending the appeal.
On Friday, she reserved her decision on Khadr's other requests to visit family in the Toronto area and to get rid of the electronic monitoring bracelet strapped to his left ankle.
The judge said she wants to see a report from Khadr's bail supervisor. The hearing is to continue next Friday.
Khadr's other lawyer, Nathan Whitling, told court that Khadr wants to see his grandparents, who are ill and whom he hasn't seen since he was a child. He wants to be able to visit them, unsupervised, and also wants to see his three brothers and a sister.
Whitling said Khadr's mother and another sister, who have expressed pro-al-Qaida views in the past, are not currently in Canada and Khadr's Toronto visit wouldn't include them.
Khadr has said in an affidavit that his relatives are not involved in any illegal activity but, if they were to try to influence his religious views, he would not be swayed as he is an independent adult ....
