Immigration minister to look at revoking citizenship of terrorism suspect with ISIS ties

OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Marc Miller says he plans to look into whether a man facing terrorism charges with alleged ties to ISIS should have his Canadian citizenship revoked.

Miller made the comment at a government announcement in Nova Scotia, the day after a parliamentary committee voted to hear from both him and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc about how 62-year-old Ahmed Eldidi entered Canada and became a citizen.

“I’m disgusted as any Canadian,” Miller said Wednesday.

“I have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it, and I will,” he said.

Eldidi and his 26-year-old son Moustafa Eldidi were arrested and charged by the RCMP last month for allegedly plotting to carry out an attack in Toronto. Police said they found an axe and machete in their possession.

The charges against them have not been proven in court and they remain in custody, with details of the case against them subject to a publication ban.

The RCMP alleges the pair were in the “advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack.” 

Police say the 62-year-old Eldidi is a Canadian citizen, while his son is not. A report from Global News citing unnamed sources, said the older Eldidi immigrated to Canada and became a citizen after having allegedly been involved in committing violence against an ISIS prisoner, according to a video released by the terror group.

Postmedia has not viewed the video. The RCMP has announced the 62-year-old is also facing an aggravated assault charge related to an incident police allege took place outside of Canada in 2015 and was tied to ISIS.

The Opposition Conservatives have demanded that the government explain how Eldidi was allowed to enter Canada and become a citizen, saying the case shows a failure in the border screening process under Trudeau, who came to power in 2015.

Miller said on Wednesday he has ordered his deputy minster to look at the timeline of events about how Eldidi came to Canada and gained citizenship.

“I think Canadians deserve answers,” Miller said. “I’m also going to take the next step, which is to start the preliminary work, with the evidence at hand, to look at whether the individual in question citizenship’s should be revoked.”

He said the ongoing court case means he is limited in what he could say about the case.

However, the Conservatives have rejected that suggestion, saying the government must provide the date of when the 62-year-old Eldidi entered Canada and under which immigration program.

The Tories are also pushing Trudeau’s government to outline the dates for when he became a permanent resident and eventually a citizen.

The federal New Democrats also say the case raises serious concerns, including about how Eldidi was able to remain in Canada undetected despite having alleged ISIS ties.

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