The Conservatives want to hold emergency committee meetings in response to two men charged with multiple terrorism offences. The meetings are to determine how one of the men charged was able to enter the country given his previous alleged ties with ISIS.
“Canadians are learning a man who allegedly dismembered someone on video on behalf of ISIS immigrated to Canada on Trudeau’s watch,” wrote Conservative Leader Pierre Poilevere in a post to X on Tuesday. “Last month, police arrested him and his son while they were allegedly planning a terrorist attack in Toronto.”
“Who in Trudeau’s government is responsible for this massive failure?” asked Poilievre.
According to RCMP, a Toronto father and his son were charged for their involvement with an alleged plot to carry out a violent terrorist attack in the city.
The Conservatives called the man’s admission into Canada an “egregious national security failure” which “occurred under Justin Trudeau’s watch” in a statement released on Tuesday.
Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his son Mostafa Eldidi, 26, appeared in virtual court sessions in Newmarket, Ont. to face multiple terror-related charges last week.
Among the nine charges against the two is one count each of conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit or at the direction of a terrorist group.
Both men maintain that they are innocent on all charges but have yet to make a formal plea.
The Conservatives responded by calling for the emergency meetings and by sending a letter requesting that the House of Commons public safety committee be recalled to discover the root cause of the security breach.
“Throughout the summer, Conservatives have demanded that the Public Safety Committee should return to do its vital work, but the Liberal-NDP coalition refused, wishing to continue their summer vacations,” reads the Conservative Party of Canada statement.
“The attempted terror attack in the Greater Toronto Area shows the importance of this Committee returning so parliamentarians can do their work to ensure Canada’s national security. Any more delays from the Liberal-NDP coalition are an unacceptable act of negligence.”
The statement went on to accuse the Trudeau government of not properly vetting people at the border for potential links to terrorist networks.
“What is even more shocking is that one of the two accused men had entered Canada, and had been granted a Canadian citizenship by the Trudeau Government, even though he had been videoed dismembering a prisoner on behalf of ISIS in 2015,” continued the statement.
The purpose of the meetings would be to determine how Eldidi was able to enter Canada and ultimately become a Canadian citizen and to find out if there are any individuals with similar backgrounds who have been granted entry into Canada.
The two men were arrested in Richmond Hill, Ont. last month after a month-long investigation involving multiple police departments.
According to RCMP Supt. James Parr, the alleged plot targeted Toronto, however, little details can be shared publicly due the threat being under a publication ban.
Parr did confirm that authorities suspect the target of the alleged plot was supposed to be the “general public.”
The two are also facing additional weapons charges for possession of an axe and a machete, which were in their possession at the time of their arrest.
“As you know, they were charged with having particular weapons. In other words, we’re pretty confident how close they were to moving from simply having those tools and then moving on to actioning that threat,” said Parr during a press conference last week.
Conservative House House Leader Andrew Scheer called the incident “a colossal failure of Trudeau’s national security system” in a press conference on Parliament Hill Tuesday morning.
“Today, Conservatives are calling on the Bloc and NDP to support our efforts to recall the public safety committee so that we can investigate all the aspects of this disturbing and shocking event,” added Scheer.
“Canadians have a right to know what went wrong? How did this individual get into Canada and obtain Canadian citizenship?”