University of Calgary classmate reacts to news of Michael Spavor's release from Chinese prison
Michael Purity, a former University of Calgary classmate of Michael Spavor, was camping in the California backwoods when he got the news from CTV that Spavor, one of the two Michaels, was on a plane home from China.
"My immediate reaction to finding that Michael Spavor is a free man?" Purity asked, before breaking out into what might be called a Snoopy Dance of Joy.
"I'm excited. This is really great news!" he said.
Shortly before 7 p.m. in Calgary, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Spavor and Michael Kovrig had boarded a plane bound for Canada, after being imprisoned in China since December, 2018.
Purity had been calling for the release of both Michaels and, after the U.S. dropped an extradition request of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, it happened.
"I'm so grateful to have these two Michaels back in freedom in their home and native land," Purity said.
He reflected on the fact that Spavor and Kovrig spent close to three years in harsh and inhospitable detention, most of it awaiting trial.
"A thousand days," he said. "It's an incredible number of days that you and I have been out enjoying fresh air and freedom and we haven't had the challenges that Michael's faced by any means.
Michael Purity, a friend of Michael Spavor, spoke to CTV News Friday night and said he was overjoyed at the development in the case.
"To hear what eventually happened (to the two Michaels) was extremely traumatizing," he said. "To think that 11 years was what he was sentenced to a few weeks ago, I was very disheartened to read that and didn't really understand – how could that be?
"But now things make more sense and the flip side of the bad news is some good news."
"(It was) hard to have a friend of mine, or any Canadian in a traumatic situation that is not just – and now we have justice, so I'm very happy."
Late Friday evening, the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sent out a statement regarding the release of the two Michaels.
"The U.S. Government stands with the international community in welcoming the decision by People’s Republic of China authorities to release Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig after more than two-and-a-half years of arbitrary detention. We are pleased that they are returning home to Canada."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.