ANALYSIS: Alleged ISIS Immigrant: A Rare Occurrence or the Tip of the Iceberg?

Many questions are left unanswered around the foiled alleged terrorist plot in Toronto covered by a publication ban, especially on how one of the suspects obtained citizenship and whether any other similarly inclined individuals could be lying in wait.
The Epoch Times asked Immigration Canada whether other files are being reviewed for due diligence, or if new measures are being implemented to prevent future occurrences.
Spokesperson Remi Lariviere said Miller has directed the department to conduct a “thorough review” of Ahmed Eldidi’s case. “Once all the facts are known, IRCC will not hesitate to take appropriate actions,” he said.
The Conservatives have asked that the immigration program used by Eldidi to enter Canada be disclosed, as well as the dates he became a permanent resident and a Canadian citizen.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, who’s been critical of the number of asylum-seekers in Quebec, said it’s normal there are increased risks as more people enter a jurisdiction.
All of these individuals are being processed by departments and agencies responsible for borders, immigration, and internal security.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is involved in the process, with ability to consult its holdings composed of information collected through human sources and intercepts, or received from domestic and international partners.
The agency noted the volume of asylum claimants has rapidly increased in the last five years and continues to grow, “creating pressures at ports of entry and leading to delays in process and other strains on the asylum system.”
CSIS doesn’t decide who is granted access to Canada and can obtain status. Its role is to provide advice to other departments and agencies that have the authority to make those decisions.
The Epoch Times asked CSIS whether the increased workload is causing resource issues. A spokesperson said the agency can’t discuss internal resource allocations given “its mandate and specific operational requirements.”
Former CSIS intelligence analyst Phil Gurski said the agency has a finite amount of resources to deal with a sizeable and increasing amount of requests.
“I don’t think they have the resources to do a full background check on everybody that the government was seeking to bring in to Canada,” he told The Epoch Times.
With regard to going back in time to look at who else could have slipped through the cracks, Gurski said it could be accomplished “in theory,” but the volume is too high practically speaking. A strategy could be used to focus more specifically on Iraq and Syria, but this could be a trap, he said.
Gurski, a specialist on terrorism who currently heads Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting, notes how ISIS now has offshoots in many parts of the world such as Afghanistan, Africa, and the Middle East, following the toppling of the so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2019.
The women fall under the category of what CSIS calls “extremist travellers,” individuals with a nexus to Canada who are suspected of having travelled abroad to participate in terrorism-related activities, which could range from producing propaganda to fighting on the front lines.
The Epoch Times asked CSIS and the RCMP for updated data on the issue. CSIS spokesperson John Townsend said the agency and other governmental departments are “well organized to manage the threat posed by” Canadian extremist travellers (CETs) and possible returnees.
“Whenever possible, law enforcement conducts criminal investigations to support criminal charges, and the prosecution of CETs,” Townsend said.
The RCMP didn’t provide a response by publication time.
As of 2020, of the approximately 200 extremists who travelled abroad from Canada, 61 had returned, said NSICOP, while 122 were in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. A number of these extremists are suspected to be dead, but the number was redacted in the report.
Lorne Dawson, professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo and terrorism expert, shares Gurski’s perspective, saying it’s been a mistake in recent years to “under-estimate the ongoing threat posed by jihadism worldwide.” He told The Epoch Times the socio-political conditions that contribute to jihadist extremism in different countries haven’t changed and in some cases have worsened, like in Iraq.
“Far-right extremism is on the rise and important, but it has not displaced jihadism,” Dawson said.