Ottawa looking at whether it can revoke citizenship of man accused in terror plot

The federal government is looking at whether it can revoke the citizenship of a man accused of planning a terror attack in Toronto, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Wednesday.

“I’m as disgusted as any Canadian. But I have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it and I will,” he said during a morning news conference in Church Point, N.S.

“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.”

Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his son Mostafa Eldidi, 26, face multiple charges including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit or at the direction of a terrorist group. They were arrested on July 28.

Police said they were “in the advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto.”

The father, who is also accused of committing an aggravated assault in 2015 for the benefit of the Islamic State somewhere outside of Canada, has Canadian citizenship, say authorities. Police said the son does not have citizenship.

Officials have not confirmed whether the senior Eldidi received citizenship before or after 2015.

When asked about the timeline on Wednesday, Miller said he would “like to give a better answer, frankly, today and I don’t have one.” 

The minister said he’s ordered his deputy minister to review the timeline of events, including what was known and when.

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

Miller added that he may be limited in what he can disclose, given the ongoing court case. 

“Canadians deserve answers.” 

On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee agreed to investigate the case amid questions about the immigration screening process for both men.

The accused are scheduled to be back in court later this week.