Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc brushed off the Conservative’s request for an emergency meeting to determine how an alleged terrorist with ties to ISIS was able to immigrate to Canada and nearly carry out an attack in Toronto.
The Conservatives demanded an emergency meeting earlier this week to determine how one of the two men charged was able to enter the country and obtain citizenship despite having alleged ties with ISIS.
“The fact remains that under Trudeau’s watch, an ISIS terrorist was let into Canada after dismembering someone in an ISIS propaganda video. He was then granted citizenship, and very nearly carried out a terrorist attack here on Canadian soil,” Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer told True North. “Canadians have every right to be concerned and they need answers for this colossal failure of the Trudeau government to protect our people and our national security.”
LeBlanc accused the Tories of partisanship and said that the fact that the RCMP apprehended the alleged terrorists without incident shows that the process worked.
“In circumstances like this, when there’s an allegation that is in the public domain, some politicians, for partisan reasons, will exaggerate the allegation, will insert facts that, in fact, may not be reliable, to make a partisan point that doesn’t serve the national security interest of the country,” said LeBlanc. “Making stuff up and asserting timelines when you don’t have those facts doesn’t contribute to giving Canadians the sense of security that they should properly have by the work that the RCMP and CSIS and the Immigration Department are doing.”
LeBlanc shifted the blame to the Conservatives and the previous Harper government
“I don’t think that the governments would be responsible in putting out a series of information that would prejudice the ability of the police and the prosecutors to conduct a successful criminal trial,” said LeBlanc. “Some Conservative politicians, who sat in the most secretive government in Canadian history — the government of Stephen Harper — have suddenly found a virtue in releasing information that would potentially prevent a successful prosecution or prejudice ongoing police investigation.”
According to the Privacy Act, governments can release personal information when the benefit to the public interest outweighs any potential invasion of privacy from disclosing the information.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had previously posted to X about the ongoing developments.
“Canadians are learning a man who allegedly dismembered someone on video on behalf of ISIS immigrated to Canada on Trudeau’s watch,” Poilievre wrote in his post to X. “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?”
A Conservative spokesperson highlighted that the Liberals have previously disclosed information during investigations when it was convenient for them, like when Minister of Immigration Marc Miller posted on X about Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s Canadian citizenship.
“Trudeau and his Minister are playing games and making grand excuses to avoid responsibility. The law absolutely allows Trudeau to come clean with Canadians because it is in the national interest,” said Scheer. “The Liberal government must be open and transparent with Canadians to explain how Canadians’ lives were put at risk, and what other threats may still exist.”
The father and son duo of Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi, age 62 and 26, respectively, were subject to several terrorism-related charges, including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit or at the direction of a terrorist group.
The two were arrested at a hotel on July 28 while they were “in the advanced stages of planning a serious violent attack in Toronto,” according to Assistant Commissioner Matt Peggs of the RCMP. They were in possession of an axe and machete when they were arrested.