"Can there be bad laws"
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Just to be clear, what you are saying is that it is a "bad law" to prevent the government from condoning, and participating in, the torture of Canadian citizens.
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Omar Khadr would have been entitled to make a claim against the government of Canada even before the entrenchment of the Charter.
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What you do not seem to get is that the government is not entitled deliberately to allow Canadian citizens to be tortured, far less to participate in those acts, far less to aggravate their injury.
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That is the origin of the exemplary damages claim.
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It is not a small thing, and your own liberty and security depend on it.