Well! Now the brother of the fellow killed is saying that a good compensation paid his family by the Canadian Government, is to allow them immigration to Canada and free education for his six sons.
Well, I'm not entirely unsympathetic to this view:
1) From all accounts, the soldier involved correctly applied his ROE and did what he needed to do. (The investigation will confirm/deny this, but I'm working under an assumption of professional competence here and so will assume correct use of ROE)
2) That means (assuming this first assumption holds) that the soldier is absolved of personal responsibility, but he is still an agent of the Government of Canada - and while acting (lawfully) as that agent, he took the life of what appears to be an innocent civilian.
3) While not censurable - sometimes shit happens - it is regrettable. Nobody wants that civilian dead.
4) The taxi driver bears some responsibility here, but realistically, he probably doesn't have any resources to tap into, and the taxi driver is not currently engaged in a campaign for the hearts and minds of the local population.
5) There is an ancient tradition of "wereguild"; the paying of money, services, or other goods to offset a loss of life; especially a wrongful one. The precedent is as old as time.
6) So it isn't unreasonable for the Government of Canada to make some gesture towards the family. We used to pay German farmers for manoeuvre damage to fields, after all.
7) And allowing immigration (meaning the sons will become Canadian citizens) and educating them seems like a good compromise. The cost is cheap, the PR value is immense, and it's better and more noble than a plain old cash payout.
8) And I'll even offer up the possibility that one or more sons, now educated and Canadian citizens, might even sign up for the CF. If the mission runs that long... this might actually wind up being an "investment".
So I don't see the idea as crazy at all.
DG