Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Sunday the federal government is still pondering whether to appeal a Federal Court order on the Omar Khadr case.
On CTV's Question Period, Cannon reiterated the government is "looking very seriously" whether to appeal the order that it request the United States to send Khadr home from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Khadr, 22, has spent years in the detention facility on charges that he killed an American medic in Afghanistan in 2002. The charges are before a U.S. military commission, but the hearings are on hold pending a review of his case.
Cannon said Khadr, who was born in Toronto, is "accused of serious and important crimes," and he would prefer to allow the U.S. review of his case to play out.
"Our government has chosen to be able to let the Americans go through that process, and once that process is completed, they will then of course make a determination as to his guilt, his innocence or whatever will come about," Cannon said.
Detainees from other Western countries, including Britain and Australia, were sent home from Guantanamo Bay long ago, under pressure from their home governments.
Khadr is thought to be the last Westerner at Guantanamo.
On Thursday, Federal Court Judge James O'Reilly ruled that the government must ask the U.S. "as soon as practicable" to send Khadr home. He said Ottawa's refusal to demand repatriation of Khadr offends fundamental justice.
The foreign affairs minister defended his government's handing of the Khadr file.
"We're doing the exactly the same thing as the previous government had done. We're following that same course of action" he said.
But opposition MP's rejected that argument, noting that the situation has changed in Washington with a new administration that is committed to closing Guantanamo Bay.
On Question Period, Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert questioned any further delay in bringing Khadr home to face trial in Canada.
"Are we going to wait until the last soldier leaves there and when the lights go out? We now have no choice but to bring him home. This is an abdication of leadership from the government" Wilfert said.
The opposition criticism comes as the Obama administration moves closer to deciding what to do with an initial group of detainees.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday the U.S. is "relatively close to making some calls," adding, "we're doing these all on a rolling basis."
Holder made the comments as he flew to London, the first of several stops where he will visit European leaders to discuss terrorism and other issues. The visit is also intended to strengthen ties left strained by the previous Bush administration policies on Guantanamo.
The Obama administration is edging toward transferring some prisoners to the U.S., most likely to Virginia. They are Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs, and their supporters say they never should have been at Guantanamo in the first place.
There are about 240 Guantanamo inmates, including Khadr.
As many as 60, if freed, cannot go back to their homelands because they could face abuse, imprisonment or death. They are from Azerbaijan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Chad, China, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Several European countries, including Portugal and Lithuania, have said they would consider taking such detainees.
