If you've ever wondered what keeps Justin Trudeau awake at night, now we know.

It's the unique power world leaders have of enacting principled policy which kills innocent people.

The prime minister confronted his mission impossible this week and delivered the only ultimatium which makes any sense. No. Ransom. Ever.

Those three words, and this is a hard truth, will be a death sentence to Canadians held hostage in terrorist territory where money is the only motivation.

My former newspaper colleague, the charismatic, adventure-seeking John Ridsdel, probably knew his fate the minute he sized up his brutal Abu Sayyaf captors. The other Canadian, Robert Hall, is likely facing a grim outcome too if he’s not rescued quickly by Philippine forces.

But they're the tragic victims of the right policy in an unresolvable predicament. One ransom paid is a floodgate opened with a high price on any Canadian in the wrong place at the wrong time.

About the only action open to Trudeau now is to use some of that Most Influential status bestowed on him by Time Magazine to arm-twist the Philippine president into make the surviving hostages a top military search-and-rescue priority.

Perhaps a nudge by pointing out how 36,000 Canadian tourists visited the Philippines in the first two months of this year, making us that country’s sixth biggest market for visitors. The kidnapping and brutal murders of our citizens would, obviously, be bad for the tourism business.

A diplomatic warning from the prime minister that his government is considering a travel advisory against visiting the Philippines might get their attention.

If the Liberal ransom ban is real, permanent and non-negotiable in any circumstance, then getting foreign governments extremely motivated to save Canadian hostages is the only realistic response.

Trudeau's message to terrorists that kidnapping Canadians will be more trouble than it's worth must circle the globe.

Far from being a money-making asset, a Canadian in captivity must become a dangerous and costly liability best left untouched.

That's the Last Word…