LeBlanc said there was “no way” for the Border Patrol to access the gruesome 2015 ISIS video.
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OTTAWA – Canada’s Border Services Agency only became aware of a gruesome ISIS propaganda video purporting to show the Canadian man accused of planning a foiled terrorist attack this summer after media reported its existence.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc reiterated to the House Security Committee on Wednesday that he had ordered a review of immigration enforcement procedures. Two men, Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi and his son Mostafa Eldidi, were allowed to enter Canada years before their arrest on charges that they were in the advanced stages of planning a violent terrorist attack on Toronto.
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One of the questions looming following the father-son duo’s arrest by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in July is whether immigration and security authorities knew about a 2015 ISIS propaganda video allegedly showing the elder Eldidi dismembering a prisoner when they granted him Canadian citizenship in 2024.
On July 31, the RCMP announced a total of nine charges against both men, including participation in the activities of a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder on behalf of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Ahmed Eldidi was also charged with grievous bodily harm for incidents in 2015.
Speaking to the committee on Wednesday, CBSA Vice Chairman Ted Gallivan said the border agency only learned about the video when Global News reported on it in the days following the arrests.
“The CBSA obtained a copy of this video from the dark web, according to media reports. It is part of the review in which we are asking questions about the procedures,” Gallivan said.
LeBlanc said there was “no way” for the Border Services Agency and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) to access the gruesome 2015 ISIS video while they were conducting security clearances on both men.
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The father was investigated by either CSIS or CBSA in 2018, 2021 and 2023, while the son was investigated in 2020. In all cases, a document submitted to the committee by the government states that the investigations resulted in a “positive recommendation.”
“These decisions were made based on the information that was available to (CSIS and CBSA) at the time,” LeBlanc said. “That’s why we asked (Immigration Minister) Marc Miller and I to look into a process that might provide access to certain information in another way.”
“We recognize the understandable questions Canadians had when they learned of these arrests following the RCMP press release. I think it is reasonable for the government and Canadians to ask how this sequence of events could have happened and what we can learn from this sequence of events to ensure the very best actions are taken,” he added.
Documents prepared by IRCC for the committee provide information about the immigration status of both men.
IRCC says it approved a temporary resident visa for 62-year-old Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi in January 2018 before he entered Canada via Toronto the following month.
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In February 2019, Eldidi was granted refugee status, in September 2021 he was granted permanent residency, and in May 2024 he was granted Canadian citizenship. CSIS did not learn that he posed a potential threat to national security until one month later, in June 2024.
Global News reported that a tip from French intelligence alerted the agency to the potential threat.
His 26-year-old son, Mostafa Eldidi, first entered the United States on a student visa in January 2020 before crossing the land border into Canada and seeking asylum. He was granted refugee status in July 2022 but never received permanent resident status, IRCC said.
When asked why the son was not returned to the United States under the Safe Third Country Agreement, Aaron McCrorie, vice president of intelligence and law enforcement at the Canada Border Services Agency, said he was allowed to stay in Canada because a family member of his was already in the country.
“Even if the family member is a terrorist?” asked Rhéal Fortin, MP for the Bloc Québécois.
In July 2024, father and son were arrested and charged in connection with nine criminal offenses: participation in the activities of a terrorist organization, promotion of terrorist activities, possession of a weapon for dangerous purposes, conspiracy to murder and grievous bodily harm. The two men remain in custody awaiting trial.
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“The fact that these two individuals are in prison facing serious criminal charges is a reflection of the outstanding work of the RCMP and its partners,” LeBlanc said.
The Conservatives objected to what they saw as a “false representation” that the system was working as intended and that the arrest of the two people had been a success.
“What happened here is that we were within a hair’s breadth, minutes, hours, possibly days, of a mass casualty incident,” Conservative MP Larry Brock told the committee.
“I am sorry for all the witnesses, you failed in your responsibility to ensure our safety. You did not do your job. By the grace of God and the good French intelligence, you are behind bars where you should be,” he added, calling on authorities to release people who “did not do their job.”
Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen chimed in shortly afterwards, thanking intelligence and security officials for their “incredible work.”
The NDP and Bloc said that while they were pleased that the individuals were arrested and that procedures were followed, many questions remained about why they were in Canada in the first place and why they were in the advanced stages of a terrorist attack.
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