EDITORIAL: Immigration flaws debase Canadian citizenship

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Shocking testimony at the Commons Public Safety Committee last week raises serious flags about how two men now charged with a slew of terror related charges were allowed into this country. One of them, Ahmed Eldidi, was granted Canadian citizenship just two months before he was arrested. One of those charges is related to a terror video made before Eldidi came to Canada. He can be seen allegedly dismembering a body, “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with” the Islamic State.

Security forces in an allied country tipped off authorities here of his background and he and his son, Mostafa Eldidi, were arrested in a hotel north of Toronto. Police allege the pair were in the advanced stages of plotting an ISIS-inspired terror attack in the Toronto area.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the committee Ahmed Eldidi arrived in Canada at Pearson Airport in 2018. That year, he received a work permit and in 2021, became a permanent resident. In May, 2024, he became a Canadian citizen. His son arrived in Canada in 2020 and in 2022 was granted refugee status.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) did two security checks on the father and one on the son, and both were cleared.

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Last year, then-Immigration Minister Sean Fraser mused about allowing would-be Canadians to skip citizenship ceremonies and click online to agree to the oath. While there was outrage at the time, newly-minted Immigration Minister Marc Miller resurrected the idea just months later to help clear up backlogs. That’s how casually the Trudeau government regards our citizenship. You don’t even have to show up to become Canadian.

LeBlanc got testy when Conservative MP Larry Brock asked, “What the hell is going on?”
LeBlanc accused Brock of posturing for social media.

“At the time when the relevant decisions were being made by the Immigration Department and the security services were doing their work, the existence of that video, or the information you have recounted to the committee now was not available,” he said.

But apparently another nation did their homework and kindly shared it with us.

How many other Eldidis are out there, mocking our lax Immigration system and sloppy citizenship requirements? Why do we rely on other countries to hunt them down?