Canada revokes citizenship of Toronto 18 ringleader using new anti-terror law

[gryphon]

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/ca...-18-ringleader

TORONTO — The government used its new power to revoke the citizenship of convicted terrorists for the first time on Friday against the imprisoned ringleader of the 2006 al-Qaida-inspired plot to detonate truck bombs in downtown Toronto.
Zakaria Amara was notified in a letter sent to the Quebec penitentiary where is he serving a life sentence that he is no longer a Canadian. He still holds citizenship in Jordan and could be deported there following his release from prison.
Defence Minister Jason Kenney confirmed in an interview Saturday that the government had revoked Amara’s citizenship. He called it a “fitting first application” of law that he played a key role in bringing to Parliament.
“I hope that this case makes people realize what we’re really trying to do here,” he said from Regina. “If you basically take up arms against your country or plan to do so, and you’re convicted in a Canadian court, or an equivalent foreign court, through your violent disloyalty you are forfeiting your own citizenship and we’ll just read it as it is.”

Legislation that came into force in May, over the opposition of the NDP and Liberals, allows the government to revoke the citizenship of Canadians who have been convicted of terrorism offences — provided they hold citizenship in a second country.
The law also applies to dual citizens convicted of treason and spying for foreign governments, as well as members of armed groups at war against Canada. A little more than half-a-dozen Canadians have been notified so far that the government was considering revoking their citizenship.



But the Conservatives have said the law would target only the most serious cases. Among those who have received formal notice they may lose their citizenship is Hiva Alizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who plotted al-Qaida bombings in Canada.
“This is about the value of Canadian citizenship,” Kenney said. “If someone hates Canada so much that they’re prepared to demonstrate violent disloyalty to our country, they forfeit their citizenship. It’s a simple principle.”
He accused the NDP and Liberals of an “absurd fear campaign” that had misrepresented the narrow focus of the law. “The truth is, as far as we can tell, this is likely only applicable to fewer than 30 people in the last decade. So 30 people out of a population of 36 million. This is for the worst of the worst,” he said.
Asked if Amara fit that description, Kenney said: “Somebody who meticulously planned to slaughter hundreds of his fellow citizens for ideological reasons? Yes, I think that’s the worst of the worst.”
Born in Jordan and baptized an Orthodox Christian, Amara moved to Saudi Arabia when he was four. He converted to Islam at age 10 after his friends told him he would go to hell if he didn’t. From age 10 to 13, he lived in his mother’s home country Cyprus until immigrating to Canada in 1997.



A university dropout who worked as a gas jockey in Mississauga, Ont., Amara emerged in 2005 as one of two leaders of a terrorist group that trained on a rural property north of the city and, inspired by al-Qaida, began planning attacks they thought would convince Canada to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
Amara led a faction that was acquiring the components for large truck bombs that were to be detonated during the morning rush hour outside the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service office beside the CN Tower. An Ontario military base was also to be attacked.
Justice Bruce Durno called the plot “spine chilling” and said “the potential for loss of life existed on a scale never before seen in Canada. It was almost unthinkable without the suggestion that metal chips would be put in the bombs. Had the plan been implemented it would have changed the lives of many, if not all Canadians forever.”
In a letter produced at his sentencing, Amara vowed to transform “from a man of destruction to a man of construction.” He asked the judge to “not close the door and give me a chance that one day I’ll be able to pay for the moral debt that I still owe.”

I support this

[beachdown]

I think people now need to realize that Canada is now officially a two-tier citizenship country. The new bill was applied in the story above, but it can also easily be applied to other non-terrorists that find themselves in some sort of other trouble. If you parents / grandparents weren't born here, and they do something wrong, they can have their second class citizenship revoked.

Under this law, the only Canadians who can never lose their citizenship are those born in Canada who do not have another nationality (and are not eligible to apply for another nationality). No matter what crimes they may be accused of, these first-class citizens can never have their citizenship taken away. On the other hand, Canadians with another nationality (and those who are eligible to obtain another nationality) now have second-class status, even if they were born in Canada: under Bill C-24, their citizenship can be stripped.

Currently, citizenship can be taken away mainly on the basis of crimes that are considered threats to Canada’s national security, like terrorism or espionage, or demonstrations of disloyalty to Canada, like treason. But legal experts warn that the list of offences that could lead to the removal of citizenship might be expanded in the future. Additionally, Bill C-24 punishes criminal activity with exile – a practice abandoned hundreds of years ago that has no place in today’s democracy.

[Natalka]

I agree, gryphon, a good thing.

[ticul]

Thank you for sharing this story Gryphon......................................

[bluerose]

Thanks beachdown for showing us the flip side of the coin.

[lecale]

.

[dededi]

I wonder what the US would have done with these guys: executed them? Given them life plus 1,000 years?

I hope they spend their entire natural lives in prison, but if they are ever released, I am glad that they will never again walk free in Canada.

Bravo, well put.

[gryphon]

The only people losing their citizenship are dual citizen who commit terror acts...these people betrayed canada and do not deserve to be citizens

[beachdown]

So this is going to set a precedent for everybody else (most Canadians who parents, grandparents came here from somewhere) when they commit a crime that is considered to be not in the best interest of Canada. Easy to overlook this now isn't it?

One of these morons was actually born in Canada to parents who relinquished their Pakistani citizenship, but apparently they got it back allegedly. How does that carry over to their son who was born here and is Canadian? You can't deport someone to a country they weren't born in

I guess the Arrar case didn't teach us anything.

The only people losing their citizenship are dual citizen who commit terror acts...these people betrayed canada and do not deserve to be citizens

[beachdown]

If this guy wasn't born in Canada, would there be a need for the Govt to intervene when people like him get into trouble overseas? You will think he wants to get out there quick, yet he remains there doing what before coming back here

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mohamed...road-1.2594271

Debatable...

http://www.chch.com/oakville-man-could-have-his-canadian-citizenship-revoked/