Conservatives demand answers on how Pakistani national arrested in alleged ISIS-attack entered Canada

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he will be appear before the committee next week

Published Sep 09, 2024  •  2 minute read

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller rises during Question Period, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Photo by Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The Opposition Conservatives are demanding the Liberal government answer questions about how a 20-year-old man arrested for allegedly plotting to carry out an ISIS-related attack was allowed to enter Canada, only weeks after a father and son were arrested on similar charges.

The RCMP and FBI announced last week that Muhammed Khan was arrested on allegations of trying to enter the United States having planned a terrorist attack against Jewish residents in New York City on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas’ attacks in Israel.

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Police say Khan is a Pakistani national and was set to appear in court in Montreal on Friday.

On Monday, the Opposition Conservatives circulated a letter they sent to the chair of the parliamentary committee on public safety calling for a probe into how Khan entered Canada, saying there is a “pattern of ISIS affiliated terrorists entering and residing in Canada.”

“Media reporting suggests that, according to Jewish community groups briefed by police, this individual may have obtained a student visa in order to enter Canada. This again raises serious questions about the government’s ability to prevent potential terrorists from entering the country,” the letter reads.

In a post on the platform X, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he will be appear before the committee next week to answer any questions they have.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that Khan was alleged to have plotted an attack with “the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible.”

The U.S. Department of Justice says Khan started posting and talking online about his support for ISIS last November and was planning to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out his shooting plot at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn.

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It said he used three separate vehicles to try and reach the U.S- Canada boundary and was arrested in a nearby Quebec municipality.

Postmedia has not confirmed how Khan entered Canada.

The Conservative’s also referenced how a father and son were recently arrested by RCMP in July on allegations of plotting to carry out a violent attack in Toronto.

In that case, police charged the father, 62-year-old Ahmed Eldidi, with aggravated assault, stemming from an incident that occurred outside of Canada in 2015 and that was done in the service of ISIS.

Documents tabled before the parliamentary committee on public safety show he was granted a temporary resident visa in January 2018 and entered Canada a month later. He later became a Canadian citizen.

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