A Canadian University has garnered a lot of attention for holding a speaking event featuring the contentious Omar Khadr yesterday.

Feel very lucky to be able to attend Omar Khadr’s first public speaking appearance today. Both Khadr and Ishmael Beah are so incredible - please check out the recording of the dialogue when it is posted

— Chris Pearse (he/him) (@CPearse97) February 11, 2020

Khadr delivered a keynote address at Dalhousie University's symposium on the use of children in war, which was held in partnership with The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative. He was joined by former Sierra Leone child soldier and activist Ishmael Beah.

It was Canadian-born Khadr's first public appearance since his stint at Guantanamo Bay, which followed his conviction for killing an American soldier in combat in Afghanistan when he was only 15 — an incident that some believe defines him as a terrorist, and others, a victim of the recruitment of minors in violence.

Khadr, now 33, was at the time acting as an al-Qaeda conspirator under the direction of his father, who brought him to Afghanistan.

Dallaire is painfully clear about how he views Omar Khadr. No grey area; he presents him as a “magnificent gentleman” and a “child soldier” who’s now making the world a better place.

— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) February 10, 2020

Khadr successfully sued the federal government for millions in human rights violations for their complicity in his eight-year detention at Guantanamo, after which he pleaded guilty to murder in violation of the laws of war, among other charges — a move that he said was largely to get repatriated to Canada.

There were apparently groups outside of the event protesting the fact that Khadr was being provided a platform, including veterans unsatisfied with the way he's been portrayed in media in the 18 years he's been in the public eye, as well as the government settlement.

The event featured a Q&A;, but questions were screened and their subject matter somewhat restricted.

I would sooner sit next to Omar Khadr on a flight than Ezra Levant. I would sooner have Omar Khadr as a neighbor than Ezra Levant. The only one of the two men who should be on a no-fly list is Ezra Levant. Canada's right gets smaller and more petty every day. #cdnpoli #cdnmedia pic.twitter.com/vnYe1IerHR

— Neil Before Zod™ (@WaytowichNeil) February 11, 2020

Notably present in the crowd at the panel was outspoken and controversial right-wing activist Ezra Levant, who referred to Khadr as "a convicted Al Qaida [sic] terrorist" when tweeting about the fact that the two took the same flight from Toronto to Halifax for the event.

Levant proceeded to interrogate Khadr at the airport and get into an altercation with police. He also apparently had much to say during the talk.

Halifax should be proud of its police force today. They prevented Ezra Levant from terrorizing Omar Khadr at the airport today. Well done, officers. @hxfregpolice https://t.co/RSJGOtqhkB

— Canteach (@canteach) February 11, 2020

Khadr received a standing ovation after the two-hour discussion, in which he touched on his experience in Guantanamo and his life in Canada now, saying "I always have to carry myself in a way that I'm always trying to convince people that I'm not bad."