Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian citizen, arrived in Canada and made a refugee claim. As with most new arrivals, Ressam was not detained. The basis of Ressam’s claim was that he was detained and tortured in Algeria and accused and convicted of illegal arms sale. After providing the facts of his claim which strongly hint that he had terrorist leanings, the government made no attempts to seek and detain him.
Ressam missed the date for hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board, which resulted in his claim being deemed to have been abandoned. Resssam brought an application for leave and for judicial review of that decision and his application was dismissed by the Federal Court of Canada. He was subsequently ordered deported but at that time Algeria was one of the countries that the Canadian government decided was too risky to return refugee claimants to. He was required to report to Immigration each month which he faithfully did for a couple of years. Then he stopped and in May 1998 a warrant was issued for his arrest.
In September 1998 Ressam was arrested in Montreal for theft of laptop computers and cellular phones and spent two weeks in jail. He was then released because at no time, either because the police in Montreal didn’t check or Canada Immigration didn’t put it on the computer, were the police or anyone else in the criminal justice system aware of the Immigration warrant.
Ressam encountered no difficulties until he attempted to gain entrance into the United States. Contrary to what Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Peter Boehn stated in his July 18, 2002 letter, Canadian authorities played no part in Ressam’s arrest. In fact U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s statements to the Canadian media, if he was quoted accurately, are at odds with what our own Solicitor General has said. On November 30, 2001, Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay stated in the House of Commons:
" Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the opposition just wishes to condemn our RCMP and security intelligence agencies. Let us remember the Canadian police and security agencies played an important role in ensuring the conviction of Ressam." [Emphasis added]
Canadian authorities had intelligence information that indicated that Ressam was involved in terrorism but played no role in his arrest. He was arrested by a US Customs officer who thought he looked nervous. The officer decided to inspect the trunk of the car (where the explosives were) and Ressam attempted to flee.
In December 1999, the month that Ressam was arrested, Canada Immigration had approximately 40,000 outstanding arrest warrants. In about 50% of the cases, they had no idea where the subject of the warrant was.
After he was arrested, Ressam told US authorities that he and fellow cell member Samir Mohamed discussed blowing up neighbourhoods in Montreal. One proposed site was in a Hasidic area in the Montreal suburb of Outremont — an area where, according to Ressam, Jewish people "with long curly sideburns" would be walking.
During a session of Question Period in the House of Commons following Ressam’s revelations, then Leader of the Opposition Stockwell Day questioned the government on its immigration policies, with reference to Ressam’s associate and the discussions concerning the bombing of a Jewish neighbourhood. The then Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Elinor Caplan (who is Jewish), told the House that "the hysterics of the Leader of the Opposition do nothing to inform people of the facts". Apparently someone who has a concern about neighbourhoods being bombed because a
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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