Days after the Paris terror attacks, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is acknowledging that there is no way to be absolutely sure there are no terror suspects among the 25,000 Syrian refugees Canada plans to accept by the end of the year. But he says Ottawa is satisfied that the screening process in place is “strong and robust.”
Goodale told CTV’s Question Period on Sunday that Canadian officials are working tirelessly to ensure that Syrian refugees resettled in Canada go through the proper security and health checks.
“My officials are working with the immigration officials, with the RCMP, with CSIS, with international agencies, to make sure that this is as thorough and competent and effective as possible,” said Goodale.
“Can it be 100 per cent foolproof? Well, nothing in life is 100 per cent. But we’re satisfied that the process is strong and robust.”
The minister’s comments come after reports that a Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the attackers in Paris. Officials in Greece said the passport’s owner entered the country through Leros in October. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the individual was not known to French authorities. It has not yet been determined if the passport was authentic or a forgery.
The Liberal government has committed to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada before the new year, a move that has the Conservative Official Opposition worried. Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa Saturday, Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose said Canadians were right to be concerned about resettling people from a centre of extremist activity over such a short time period of time.
Goodale said the details of the government’s Syrian refugee plan are still being discussed in cabinet, and will be released as soon as they are finalized. He ensured that all refugees will go through security checks when they arrive in Canada, regardless of whether they have been vetted by the United Nations.
“The UN (refugee) agency provides the first examination and then we have our own and we check all of the available information against all of the databases to make absolutely certain about who we’re dealing with.”
No Canadian connection to Paris
Goodale, who has been speaking with Canadian security agencies all weekend, said that as of Sunday morning, there didn’t appear to be any Canadian connection to the perpetrators or victims in the Paris attacks.
However, he said the RCMP and CSIS continue to practice “special vigilance” and remain in constant contact with other police forces and security agencies across the country.
At least 132 people were killed in six gun and bomb attacks in Paris on Friday night. Officials have said there were as many as eight attackers involved in the incident; none survived. It was the worst terrorist attack in Europe since the 2004 bombings of commuter trains in Madrid, Spain.
A “different game” now
Former RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, who worked with Interpol for six years in France, told Question Period that the attacks were a failure for France, which has extremely capable security agencies.
“We are really talking about a different game at this point now, when you see this type of successful terrorist attack in spite of the best efforts from one of the best law enforcement and security countries in the world,” said Zaccardelli.
Former Canadian Special Forces commander Steve Day agreed that the attacks were “highly sophisticated” and “extremely difficult if not impossible to prevent.” However, he said the western world has to be careful not to overreact to terrorism threats.
“We need to come to grip with these tactical strikes, utterly tragic at the individual level, but at the national level, these are not existential threats to us,” Day said.
