'I am disgusted as any Canadian': Immigration minister looking into revoking terror suspect's citizenship
![Toronto terror suspects Mostafa Eldidi (left) and his father, Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, appear virtually in court on Aug. 1, 2024. (CTV News Toronto/John Mantha)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/8/1/toronto-terror-suspects-1-6986213-1722539873168.jpg)
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.
IN DEPTH
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7025140.1725474560!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6850735.1713368648!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7033266.1726026947!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Actions speak louder: What experts are saying about the body language in the U.S. presidential debate
The highly anticipated debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a heated matchup. Here's what experts who analyzed the exchange had to say.
'Buy nothing': PSAC wants federal workers to boycott downtown Ottawa businesses
A union representing federal employees is asking its members to bring their own lunch to work, in an apparent retaliation against downtown Ottawa businesses as new return-to-office protocols begin.
Conservatives to push non-confidence motion against Trudeau government
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party will put forward a non-confidence motion when Parliament resumes 'at the earliest possible opportunity' with the aim of triggering an early federal election.
Famous Winston Churchill portrait, stolen in Ottawa, is found
Ottawa's Chateau Laurier hotel says authorities have recovered an iconic photograph of Winston Churchill after it was stolen and replaced with a fake nearly three years ago.
Inside a Manitoba ghost town, a group of ladies works to keep it alive
Abandoned homes line the streets of Lauder, a town that's now a ghost of what it once was. Yet inside, a small community is thriving.
Carnival cruise ship collides with iceberg
The words 'Titanic moment' are possibly the last thing you want to hear on a boat – but that was the phrase used by one passenger on board the Carnival Spirit cruise ship last week, after the vessel unexpectedly struck an iceberg.
Dollarama sales peak in second quarter: A sign more Canadians are shopping at discount stores to make ends meet
Montreal-based discount retailer, Dollarama, reported a growth in profit and sales in the second quarter, signalling more Canadians are looking for a deal as the cost of living remains high.
Trudeau says he 'can't wait' to get into it with Poilievre in Parliament
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he 'can't wait' to get back to Ottawa to get into it with Pierre Poilievre in the House of Commons, as he makes the case to his own party to put up a united front against the Conservatives.
Man, 70, and woman, 71, found shot dead in Montreal apartment, police
Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating after a man, 70, and woman, 71, were killed by gunshot wounds in an apartment.
Local Spotlight
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7033073.1726014634!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
Ontario woman charged with assault with a weapon after neighbour sprayed with water gun
A Simcoe, Ont. woman has been charged with assault with a weapon after spraying her neighbour with a water gun.
'I've cried a lot of tears': Floating home dreams sink for southwestern Ontario residents
The dream of a life on water has drowned in a sea of sadness for a group of Chatham-Kent, Ont. residents who paid a Wallaceburg-based company for a floating home they never received.
Buyers say they lost life savings to a Saskatchewan company selling luxury vacation condos
In 2022, Tanya Frisk-Welburn and her husband bought what they hoped would be a dream home in Mexico.
'I'm so proud that we could do 100 years': Family-owned N.S. business marks milestone in menswear
Mansour’s Menswear in Amherst, N.S., is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month
Video shows tornado moving ashore in northern Ontario
A beautiful Labour Day weekend at the lake was interrupted by some extreme weather when a tornado touched down in northern Ontario.
'Beautiful in its own way': New forest emerges in Jasper National Park, bringing protection and new opportunities
Charred stumps and the remains of fire-ravaged trees still cover large tracts of land on the Jasper landscape, but life is returning quickly down below.
Bachman Turner Overdrive Way: City recommends honorary name change to Winnipeg road
Winnipeggers could soon be able to kick it into four-wheel drive and let it ride down the road on Bachman Turner Overdrive Way.
'Hopeless and helpless': Regina mother seeks help to treat rare spinal disease
Mary Grace Rico is seeking help in getting treatment for a rare spinal condition.
B.C.'s Bennett, Ont.'s Hennessy named flag-bearers for Paralympic closing ceremonies in Paris
Swimmer Nicholas Bennett and para canoeist Brianna Hennessy have been named Canada's flag-bearers for Sunday's closing ceremonies of the Paralympic Games in Paris.