Conservatives call for House probe into case of two men charged with terrorism offences
CBC
Conservative MPs are calling on the House public safety committee to investigate the case of a father and son in Toronto charged with multiple terrorism-related offences.
Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his son Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were arrested last month and face a total of nine charges. They face one count each of conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit or at the direction of a terrorist group — namely ISIS, a Sunni Muslim militant organization.
Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer told reporters Tuesday his party has questions about the immigration screening process for both men.
"For Canadians to have confidence in our immigration system, we need to know that in every case, in every application, the due diligence and proper screening is done. Clearly that was not done in this situation and lives were almost lost," he said.
The Conservative push for a committee probe comes after Global News reported over the weekend that Ahmad Fouad Mostafa Eldidi had taken part in an assault shown in a video released by ISIS before he immigrated to Canada. Global's report cites anonymous sources. CBC News hasn't verified the existence of the video.
A charge sheet does allege that Ahmad Fouad Mostafa Eldidi committed an aggravated assault for the benefit of the Islamic State in 2015 somewhere outside of Canada, but doesn't offer further details.
When asked Tuesday if he had seen the video for himself, Scheer said he had only seen public reports about the incident.
RCMP Supt. James Parr said during a press conference last week that both men are Canadian citizens. The RCMP later clarified that only the father has Canadian citizenship.
In a joint statement issued Tuesday evening, the offices of Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Immigration Minister Marc Miller accused the Official Opposition of playing politics.
"The Conservatives would rather risk undoing the tremendous work of our security agencies just to score a few political points," they said.
"The people who work tirelessly to keep Canadians safe deserve better from their elected representatives."
The ministers' statement says the RCMP have shared what they can so far.
"We will leave it to them to do their work and ensure that those who would seek to threaten the safety of our country be held responsible for their actions," they said.
Scheer said he's not worried about a committee probe interfering with the police investigation or court proceedings and insisted MPs would focus on concerns about Canada's immigration system.
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