Immigration minister mulling revoking terror suspect's citizenship

Published Aug 14, 2024 • Last updated Aug 14, 2024 • 1 minute read

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller is seen during an interview with La Presse Canadienne in his parliamentary office, Friday, May 31, 2024 in Ottawa. Photo by Adrian Wyld /The Canadian Press

Canada’s immigration minister said efforts are underway to consider revoking citizenship from a naturalized Canadian accused in a foiled ISIS terror plot.

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Answering questions at a Wednesday morning press conference in Church Point, N.S., Immigration Minister Mac Miller said his office is investigating the possibility of reversing the Canadian citizenship granted to 62-year-old Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, who along with his 26-year-old son were arrested earlier this month, suspected of masterminding a thwarted terror attack on behalf of the Islamic State.

“Canadians deserve answers, I’m going to get to the bottom of it,” Miller told reporters.

“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’s citizenship should be revoked.”

The pair were arrested in a Richmond Hill hotel in what the RCMP allege was a plot to carry out a violent terror attack in Toronto. They face nine charges, including conspiracy to commit murder on behalf or at the behest of a terror organization.

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The elder Eldidi is also accused of participating in an ISIS torture video produced in 2015, before the Egyptian national arrived in Canada.

Miller told reporters he’s tasked his staff with piecing together the timeline of events that saw Canada’s immigration bureaucracy not only grant Eldidi permanent residence status, but also allowed him to become a citizen.

“I want to know what happened, when and how,” Miller told reporters.

“I hope to be able to provide answers in a relatively short timeline about what happened.”

Miller said he was “disgusted” over the situation, and has a responsibility to get to the bottom of what happened.

“The information that I can share in the context of criminal proceedings may be limited, but I want to make sure first and foremost that Canadians are safe, and that we do not compromise an ongoing court case,” he said.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
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