'I am disgusted as any Canadian': Immigration minister looking into revoking terror suspect's citizenship

Mostafa Eldidi (left) and his father, Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, appear virtually in court on Aug. 1, 2024. (CTV News Toronto/John Mantha)

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says he plans to look into whether the man accused of plotting a terror attack in Toronto should have his Canadian citizenship revoked.

Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his son Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were arrested in Richmond Hill, Ont., and face nine terrorism charges including conspiracy to commit murder on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

When the RCMP announced the charges on July 31 they said the two men were "in the advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto." 

The elder Eldidi, who is a Canadian citizen, is also charged with one count of aggravated assault outside the country.

"I think Canadians deserve answers. I'm going to get to the bottom of it. 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," Miller said during a news conference in Church Point, N.S., on Wednesday.

According to federal legislation, Canada has the ability to revoke a person's citizenship if they obtained it by providing false information or hiding relevant facts.

Many questions regarding the two men remain unanswered. The government is not commenting on either of their status in the country, citing privacy law concerns.

However, Miller said he's tasked his deputy minister with establishing a timeline of events explaining how the elder Eldidi became a citizen. 

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said last week that his department and the immigration department have launched an internal review regarding the case. 

How much information will be shared by the government following the review is unclear. 

"I'm as disgusted as any Canadian, but I have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it, and I will," Miller said. 

"The information that I can share in the context of criminal proceedings may be limited, but I want to make sure, first and foremost, that Canadians are safe and that we do not compromise an ongoing court case." 

Members of Parliament on the public safety and national security committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to launch a study on the terror suspects arrested in the Toronto area last month. 

The committee will also aim to figure out how the father obtained citizenship and will invite the immigration and public safety ministers to testify.

Committee hearings are slated to begin on the week of Aug. 26. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2024.