Who is allowed in?

Very troublingly, recent Government of Canada security screening lapses, leading to security and terrorism threats, were brought to light.

Specifically, high-profile attempted terrorist attacks, foiled recently only at the eleventh hour, should give rise to serious questions about what the government is doing about this critically important issue.

Let’s look at two recent instances. First, the RCMP announced in July, it arrested a man and his son as they were allegedly about to commit a terrorist attack for ISIS in Toronto. If not for a last-minute tip from a foreign government to the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), it's likely many innocent Canadians could have been killed.

The pair now face nine charges, including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit, or at the direction of, a terrorist group, ISIS.

It was revealed the father allegedly murdered someone in a brutal video released by ISIS in 2015. Despite that, he was granted a Canadian visitor visa in 2018 and quickly made a refugee claim after arriving in Canada. He was granted refugee status in 2019, became a permanent resident in 2021 and a Canadian citizen in 2024. The son entered Canada in 2020 on a U.S. student visa and obtained refugee status in July 2022.

Conservatives recently pushed for answers from senior intelligence officials from the Canada Border Service Agency at the House of Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee. Officials told the committee the father underwent multiple national security screenings before he was granted Canadian citizenship. Documents show security screening partners returned a “favourable recommendation."

This person should never have been allowed into Canada, let alone granted Canadian citizenship. It is clear serious failures in Canada’s security screening process occurred.

Second, a foreign national was arrested in Canada in September 2024, just prior to an attack that was being planned. It was discovered this person was able to enter Canada with a student visa in June of 2023. U.S. authorities stated the suspect planned to use Canada as a launching pad for a religiously motivated mass murder attack in New York.

This shows another serious failure in Canada’s security screening process. These two examples give cause for urgent reviews of Canada’s security strategies. Despite these threats, however, government ministers do not see these situations as overly alarming.

Testifying before the public safety committee regarding the arrest of the father and son, the public safety minister stated the situation showed how Canada’s national security system “should work.”

The immigration minister—even in the context of these security breaches—testified before the same committee, “we are confident in our security screening.”

This is a totally apathetic and out-of-touch response by government ministers to a critically important issue.

An internal audit of the Immigration National Security Screening Program in June 2023 found nearly half the foreign nationals flagged by security screenings had ties to serious offences, including war crimes, espionage and terrorism, and yet individuals were still allowed to take up residency in Canada between 2014 and 2019.

The audit showed this shockingly represented 3,314 people.

As well, the Department of Immigration in 2018 waived a requirement that foreign visitors submit police clearance certificates from their home country.

Senators in the United States recently openly cautioned about Canada in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security against temporary special measures that appear to lack proper security guidelines.

There are clearly areas of great concern that need be addressed, and the government simply not committing to doing so is reckless. Anything less than taking immediate action puts the integrity of Canada’s immigration system further at risk and Canadians’ safety at risk.

It is imperative we have a federal government that takes Canadians’ security seriously by safeguarding our borders, urgently reviewing these recent failures of breaches in security screening, and taking immediate action.

I’d like to hear from you:

Are you concerned about security threats and terrorism under this current Liberal government?

Please reach out to 250-470-5075 or tracy.gray@parl.gc.ca if have any thoughts to share, on this issue or others, or if you need assistance with any federal programs.

Tracy Gray is the Conservative MP for Kelowna-Lake Country.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.