Ahmed Eldidi became a Canadian citizen in May and was arrested, with his son Mostafa Eldidi, at the end of July, a committee heard Wednesday
Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, left, in a courtroom sketch with his son, Mostafa Eldidi, as they appeared via video for a hearing in Newmarket, Ont., on Aug. 1. The father became a Canadian citizen in May, 2024, and was arrested, with his son, at the end of July.The federal Public Safety Minister acknowledged that a terror suspect was granted Canadian citizenship two months before being arrested with his son on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack in Toronto.
In response, Mr. LeBlanc praised the “very effective work” of the RCMP, CSIS and others on the case, noting that arrests were made in the case before any risk was presented to Canadians.The minister said he was briefed July 24 by CSIS, who told him they had been assessing the threat from the individuals based on recent intelligence. Four days later, the Eldidis were arrested in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto.
The Islamic State was designated as a terrorist group in Canada in 2012, when the group’s members had begun carving out a self-styled caliphate out of Syria and Iraq while its leaders urged followers to launch attacks on people in the West. Conservative MP Larry Brock, referring to the video, noted that the official timeline provided to the committee noted that security screenings by CBSA and CSIS came back with favourable recommendations.
“At the time when the relevant decisions were being made by the Immigration Department and the security services were doing their work, the existence of that video, or the information that you have recounted to the committee now was not available,” he said. “Public safety is the service’s number 1 priority, and we are mindful of the potential threats that cross into our borders as well as those that exist here, and we work very hard on an ongoing basis to address those threats.”Mr. LeBlanc said his department is reviewing the case, and will make changes subject to any conclusions from the effort.
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