Ahead of an emergency hearing being called in Ottawa, Canada's public safety minister says the federal government is internally reviewing the immigration and security screening of a father and son the RCMP recently charged in connection to an alleged foiled Toronto terror plot.
"When you have a circumstance like this, the department of immigration and the public safety department will obviously review… all of the circumstances, particularly the chronology and the timeline of when certain pieces of information may have been available," Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says told reporters Wednesday, amid a series of pointed questions about the alarming case.
"That work is ongoing."
Late last month, the RCMP arrested Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and Mostafa Eldidi, 26, in Richmond Hill, Ont. The two — whom police initially said they understood both to be Canadian citizens— were "in the advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto."
The pair are facing a series of terrorism-related charges, including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with the Islamic State.
While most of the charges stem from alleged activities undertaken in Canada, the father was also charged with committing an aggravated assault outside the country in June 2015 for the benefit of the terror group.
Citing unnamed sources, Global News reported last week that the father immigrated to Canada after allegedly being filmed taking part in ISIS violence overseas, and that his son does not hold Canadian citizenship. CTV News has not independently verified this reporting.
LeBlanc told reporters senior RCMP and CSIS officials in Ottawa briefed him on the matter, suggesting that some of the information circulating "may not be reliable."
"It's important to establish, we think, the chronology. There have been some public allegations around certain information. It might be interesting to know when that information came to light and when that information was in the hands of which decision maker," LeBlanc said.
The two men appeared in court on Wednesday. They remain without lawyers and their bail hearings were put over to next week.
Hearings to be held, NDP back
A day prior, the federal Conservatives called for hearings of the House of Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee into how these men were able to immigrate to this country, stating that Canadians had "a right to know what went wrong."
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer called on the Bloc Quebecois and NDP to support his party's push to recall the committee, and on Wednesday, the NDP said they agreed, securing the ability for an emergency meeting to be called.
"Reports of a terrorism plot in Ontario – thankfully thwarted by the RCMP – have Canadians anxious that a community was narrowly saved from a potentially deadly attack," said NDP MP and committee member Alistair MacGregor in a statement.
"And rightfully upset that a man with alleged links to a foreign terrorist group was not only allowed to enter Canada but given Canadian citizenship."
The federal New Democrats agree MPs should "examine all developments" that led to the pair coming to Canada and their subsequent arrest. MacGregor also wants the hearings expanded to cover other concerns, such as how screening processes permitted entry of current and former Islamic Republic of Iran officials.
"Regrettably, since 2015, the Trudeau government has had a dismal record with our immigration system, resulting in large backlogs and delayed processing times… while honest families are separated from their loved ones for years as they wait to come to Canada," MacGregor said.
"To learn that criminals and individuals associated with oppressive political regimes managed to enter freely is a slap in their face."
Touting the two-party push for a special meeting, the Conservatives confirmed Thursday that the meeting will be held next week, "to address this shocking national security failure."
There, a request will be made for LeBlanc and Immigration Minister Marc Miller testify, as well as the top bureaucrats from the relevant departments and agencies.
LeBlanc vows to say more, later
It remains to be seen when the ministers and officials could be called, with LeBlanc indicating Wednesday that the federal government has shared what can be shared at this time.
The minister said he'd have more to say "at some future point," while noting he doesn't want to "prejudice the ability of the police and the prosecutors to conduct a successful criminal trial," by engaging in the political dialogue surrounding the case.
"I think what Canadians have a right to know is that the security services are doing important work to protect them… and the fact that these two people are currently in jail facing serious criminal charges, should give Canadians confidence that the RCMP and their partners did good work in this case," LeBlanc said.
Immigration lawyer Max Berger said that "if they are found to have engaged in acts of terrorism, or membership in an organization involved in terrorism," Canadian citizenship status can be taken away.
With files from CTV News Toronto's Jon Woodward
