The Liberal government is attempting to place the blame on the Conservative government for the apparent lapse in judgment by Canada’s national security agencies, after news broke that an alleged known terrorist was given citizenship after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015. 

During a committee hearing investigating the lapse, Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell told members that the Conservatives are to blame for the oversight. O’Connell pointed to cuts that Prime Minister Stephen Harper made twelve years ago to the CBSA, in 2012.

“I’m very pleased to see the Conservatives finally realize that their cuts have consequences,” she said.

O’Connell further quoted what the President of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) said at the time, who naturally decried the cuts, and warned that the decision would result in national security threats. 

ISIS attack thwarted  

The Liberals’ latest attempt to blame the previous government comes not just after nine years in power, but also two weeks after the RCMP charged Ahmed Eldidi and his son for planning a terrorist attack in Toronto.

Amid subsequent criticism, the Liberal Safety Minister suggested patience was needed before pointing fingers. Despite acknowledging that the Eldidi father was granted citizenship after Trudeau was elected in 2015, Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the chronology of the matter was still unclear.

Two weeks ago, shocking allegations by Global News stated that the Eldidi father was involved in dismembering an individual on behalf of ISIS, as per a 2015 ISIS video that was released before Eldidid was granted citizenship by the Liberals. 

The Opposition Conservatives have since called for an investigation into the matter to find out how Eldidi slipped through the cracks, something Liberal and Opposition MPs agreed to do during Tuesday’s emergency committee meeting on national security.  

The RCMP arrested Eldidi and his 26-year-old son, Mostafa, at a hotel north of Toronto late last month, as they allegedly prepared to launch a terrorist attack for ISIS. Authorities seized a machete and an axe from them. Moreover, Eldidi’s son is not Canadian, according to Global News.

Union presidents warned Liberals for years

Despite the Liberals’ attempt to deflect blame, the former CIU president, Jean-Pierre Fortin, also told the Liberals in 2017 that more than one thousand more staff members were needed, claiming the border was “out of control.” 

As it happens, this came just one month after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sacrificed Canada’s border security in exchange for virtue signalling points, when he told the world everyone is welcome to come to Canada, triggering a flood of illegal border crossings. Trudeau’s statement came shortly after US President Donald Trump was under fire by mainstream media for issuing a temporary ban on citizens from certain countries — predominantly Muslim countries — from entering the US. 

The CIU’s current president, Mark Weber, also complained of chronic understaffing in 2022. 

Moreover, as social media user and Albertan MartyupNorth pointed out on Tuesday, the CBSA “didn’t start increasing border agents until 2019,” as per government records.