This is an open public letter to Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc from Conservative Public Safety critic Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo):
Dear Minister LeBlanc,
I, like millions of other Canadians, was shocked to learn yesterday (Wednesday) of a planned terrorist attack in Toronto. The planned attack, which I am thankful was foiled by police and security services, involved an individual who previously travelled to Syria to join ISIS and participate in its genocidal campaign of terror.
As we know from the RCMP, this individual was charged with committing aggravated assault on behalf of the terrorist group while abroad in 2015.
What is even more shocking is that this individual was allowed to return to Canada and to freely walk the streets for nearly a decade before being arrested.
It is completely unacceptable that Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi was allowed to return to Canada without facing arrest; this situation raises important questions about how many other ISIS fighters have returned to Canada without repercussions and may be living in our communities.
With the revelation by Global News that Eldidi appeared in an ISIS propaganda video where he is [allegedly] dismembering someone, it is even more incomprehensible that your government did not prevent him from returning home without being arrested.
Canadians deserve to know how this occurred and whether other ISIS fighters have been allowed to return to Canada in the same way. Your government must release information on how Eldidi managed to get back into Canada without facing repercussions for his [alleged] terrorism, and how many other ISIS fighters are believed to be walking free in Canada.
We call for the immediate public release of this information.
I hope you will refrain from using the active criminal proceedings as an excuse to not release this information. With that said, I urge you to do the right thing as you have previously demonstrated that releasing such information is not only possible but is in the public interest.
This kind of a failure is unacceptable, but all too common for your government, which has failed to keep Canadians safe since 2015.
The release of the information surrounding this matter is the minimum you must do to address serious lingering questions.
I look forward to the answers to these critical questions and the prompt publication of the information that Canadians deserve.
Sincerely,
Frank Caputo, MP
Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo
Public Safety Critic